Different Kinds of Fruit
by Kyle Lukoff (Author)
In this funny and hugely heartfelt novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Too Bright to See, a sixth-grader's life is turned upside down when she learns her dad is trans
Annabelle Blake fully expects this school year to be the same as every other: same teachers, same classmates, same, same, same. So she's elated to discover there's a new kid in town. To Annabelle, Bailey is a breath of fresh air. She loves hearing about their life in Seattle, meeting their loquacious (and kinda corny) parents, and hanging out at their massive house. And it doesn't hurt that Bailey has a cute smile, nice hands (how can someone even have nice hands?) and smells really good.
Suddenly sixth grade is anything but the same. And when her irascible father shares that he and Bailey have something big--and surprising--in common, Annabelle begins to see herself, and her family, in a whole new light. At the same time she starts to realize that her community, which she always thought of as home, might not be as welcoming as she had thought. Together Annabelle, Bailey, and their families discover how these categories that seem to mean so much--boy, girl, gay, straight, fruit, vegetable--aren't so clear-cut after all.
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Publishers Weekly
Rising sixth grader Annabelle Blake is in her last year at her Tahoma Falls, Wash. school, and all she wants is a break from her small-town routine. Happily, change soon arrives in the form of Bailey Wick, a nonbinary new student on whom Annabelle develops her first crush. When Annabelle's father reacts poorly upon learning Bailey's gender, Annabelle learns that her dad is a "stealth" trans man who no longer publicly participates in a local LGBTQ community. Inspired by both her father and by Bailey, whose gender is disrespected by adults in the school community, Annabelle and her classmates fight for real, progressive change via protests and a Coming Out Day panel. Via the cued-white protagonists, Lukoff (Too Bright to See) highlights topics including climate change, gender presentation, intercommunity conflict, and LGBTQ history, but supporting characters--especially Bailey and their parents--are insufficiently developed, serving primarily to explain LGBTQ terms to Annabelle. Still, Annabelle's energetic voice is infectious, and the book's central theme--that labels can be both powerful and arbitrary--is bighearted and affirming. Ages 10-14. Agent: Saba Sulaiman, Talcott Notch. (Apr.)
Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Kyle Lukoff is the author of Different Kinds of Fruit, Explosion at the Poem Factory, and many other books for young readers. His favorite "vegetable" is whichever one he's eating at the moment. He's mildly allergic to figs, will never forget his first Concord grape, and loves thinking about how language creates categories. He climbs every tree he can and once got into a fight about whether a vegetable garden could have tomatoes in it.
kylelukoff.com
Andrea Tsurumi is the author and illustrator of the books Accident!, Crab Cake, and I'm On It, and they have illustrated many more, including Mr. Watson's Chickens and the Kondo & Kezumi series. They live with their spouse and carrot-loving dog in Philadelphia. Find out more at:
andreatsurumi.com
JUV039020 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Adolescence
JUV060000 - Juvenile Fiction | LGBT
Family life
Schools
Gender identity
Transgender people
