I’m so, so excited that Felix Yz author Lisa Bunker has another MG out, and so excited that there’s another great trans girl book out, and wouldn’t you know it but those books are one and the same! Zenobia July is thoughtful and fun and handles its subject matter so well and has such a great secondary cast and I love that Zen is a cybergenius and the most major secondary character is genderqueer and it’s just so good. (Content notes: There is some bigotry, including transphobia, Islamophobia, and misgendering, though the latter is not of the MC. The MC is not deadnamed.) Check it out:
Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she’s in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she’s coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she’s able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was.
When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school’s website, Zenobia knows she’s the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time. Timely and touching, Zenobia July is, at its heart, a story about finding home.
Buy It: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound