Too Bright to See

Trans identity journeys and haunted houses -- great combination, and I love love love that Uncle Roderick was a drag queen. I also love how Bug just really loves to be a kid in nature -- that being outside messing around or sitting around reading is one of the way she deals with her grief. I also love the incredibly supportive friend/family narrative, and the general quirky family life -- living in very rural Vermont, making a living off of greeting card sales. It's a good book. The overnight identity revelation feels simultaneously hard to believe and inevitable, and I think that lends a huge amount of authenticity.

n the wake of his uncle’s death, a transgender boy on the cusp of middle school grapples with grief, friendship, and identity.

Bug lives in a haunted house, but the ghosts of long ago never bothered him before this summer. Then Uncle Roderick, who was gay, passed away, and now the house feels different with just Bug and his mom left. Usually he would spend a month away at camp, the only place he feels connected to a group, but money is tight this year. When a ghost begins following Bug and his dreams turn to nightmares, he searches for answers about who is haunting him and why. As the ghostly mystery unfolds over the course of the summer, Bug struggles with new tension with his best friend, Moira, a girl whose interest in the duo’s show more reinventing themselves in middle school feels overwhelming and full of expectations he doesn’t know how to meet. This coming-of-age and coming-out story takes a needed departure from other stories about transgender youth by illuminating the perspective of a young person who does not initially know how to identify his discomfort. The narrative pushes against gendered stereotypes about interests like sports and makeup, challenging restricting ideas about gender and self-expression. A chilling, suspenseful ghost story balances the intimate, introspective narrative style. Most of the characters are White, including Bug, his family, and Moira.

Haunting and healing. show less

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 show more light--Bug is transgender. show less

Bug is just about to start middle school and is spending the summer dealing with her grief over the loss of her uncle by trying to figure out if it's his spirit haunting her and if so, what he's trying to tell her. She's also trying to suss out why the idea of wearing dresses and makeup makes her uncomfortable to the point of being nauseated. Plus, her mom is dealing with money issues and, of course, the loss of her brother. Bug's long-time frenemy isn't really helping matters, but she possibly finds a new friend in the boy who just moved to town.
I love that there are more and more middle grade books out there that give representation to people on the full spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community, both because in general that's just a very good show more trend, but also because I can then take comfort in the fact that there are other and better stories out there than this one. I just...didn't like it. I found Bug and her frenemy intensely annoying, and the ghost story element felt forced and somehow...off. But if the premise sounds good to you, don't be too swayed by my thoughts - this book has won several awards, including a Newbery Honor, so clearly others disagree with me. show less

audio children's middlegrade fiction (4 hrs)
Bug doesn't feel right dressed as a girly girl, and prefers not to use their birth name, but doesn't necessarily feel trans either. Bug also sorely misses (adoring gay uncle and occasional drag queen) Rodrick, who recently passed away after a long illness, but whose spirit might be haunting the house still -- specifically, he seems to only be haunting Bug. While dealing with a confusing mess of feelings about flitting in with new friends and making the right impression at the start of middle school, Bug tries to figure out what Rodrick was trying to say and what it means to be yourself.

I thought maybe Uncle Rodrick was mistaken and Bug might be trans nonbinary rather than a trans boy (or show more somewhere else along that spectrum), but his cryptic messages work out alright in the end as Bug seems thrilled (or at least significantly happier and no longer miserable) with the prospect that they can be a boy. Not sure if the story will have as much of an impact as it would on non- trans/NB/queer/questioning kids, but as an empathetic adult I was bawling thru most of it. show less

A great book that deals with grief, identity, friendship and, best of all…GHOSTS. I honestly would recommend this book to anyone, it’s a good read even for adults, but if you love a child who may be questioning some parts of their identity…this one is definitely for you. I loved it so much.

Narrated by Jacqui Jackson. At book's end, Bug realizes they're transgender after a series of hauntings by their late uncle Roderick lead Bug to a stash of saved LGBTQIA articles. It's the leadup to that moment that is noteworthy, a slow process of self-discovery that comes across as honest and authentic. Jackson's voice has a non-binary quality, neither fully feminine nor masculine, which suits Bug's narrative journey.