Jessie reviewed Different Kinds of Fruits by Kyle Lukoff
Review of 'Different Kinds of Fruits' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
What a gorgeous, gorgeous book. Annabelle is such a fun, spunky character, and it's a joy to get to know her over the course of the story and to watch her get to know herself. The development of the relationship between Annabelle and her parents, particularly her dad, throughout the book is rendered so carefully and well. I've read so few middle grade books with trans characters, and I've never read anything about a dad who was the gestational parent, so this was such a breath of fresh air, and I learned a lot. All this and more is explored in a way that feels loving and organic. I appreciate how various characters, including Annabelle and her dad, mess up in their understanding of Bailey's identity but are given a chance to get things right, and how by the end, everyone was able to happily own their queer identities (I …
What a gorgeous, gorgeous book. Annabelle is such a fun, spunky character, and it's a joy to get to know her over the course of the story and to watch her get to know herself. The development of the relationship between Annabelle and her parents, particularly her dad, throughout the book is rendered so carefully and well. I've read so few middle grade books with trans characters, and I've never read anything about a dad who was the gestational parent, so this was such a breath of fresh air, and I learned a lot. All this and more is explored in a way that feels loving and organic. I appreciate how various characters, including Annabelle and her dad, mess up in their understanding of Bailey's identity but are given a chance to get things right, and how by the end, everyone was able to happily own their queer identities (I got a little teary over the epilogue). Everything unfolded in such a natural, well-written way, and I just loved this story. I hope Kyle Lukoff writes a hundred more middle grade novels because I will read them all.