Too Bright to See

Kyle Lukoff

Too Bright to See
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Penguin Putnam Inc
Country
United States
Published
16 August 2022
Pages
224
ISBN
9780593111178

Too Bright to See

Kyle Lukoff

It’s the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug’s best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn’t particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Besides, there’s something more important to worry about- A ghost is haunting Bug’s eerie old house in rural Vermont…and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they’re trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light–Bug is transgender.

A Newbery Honor Book Winner of the Stonewall Book Award

A National Book Award Finalist

'A gentle, glowing wonder, full of love and understanding' -The New York Times Book Review

Review

Bug is used to the supernatural. When you grow up in a haunted house, cold draughts and doors that open on their own aren’t very scary. And Uncle Roderick has always been there to explain all the strange goings-on in their big, old house. But when Uncle Roderick dies at the start of summer, Bug starts to feel like his ghost is trying to say something important.

To make things even harder, Bug’s best friend Moira only wants to talk about starting middle school: the boys they’ll like, the makeup and clothes they’ll wear. Bug just wants to ignore these changes – Bug hasn’t ever felt like a real girl before, so why should middle school be any different?

Kyle Lukoff ’s debut novel is a lovingly penned ode to transitory periods in life. The person who always saw the real Bug has died, leaving Bug to figure out how to be in a world where nothing makes sense. The beauty of Lukoff ’s work is in its simplicity – there are no over-the-top, dramatic moments where Bug is cruelly bullied for living as his authentic self. Too Bright to See is, very simply, the story of one person’s journey through grief and self-discovery, surrounded by love. For ages 10+.


Jennifer Fraioli is from Readings Emporium

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