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A review by annas_sweets_and_stories
Ciel by Sophie LaBelle
4.0
I love queer middle grade/early YA. They own a special piece of my heart and no one can deny that having on page queer rep and trans rep in teens books is essential and will absolutely make a difference to queer kids everywhere.
Now I'm calling this a middle grade/early YA because it read like a middle grade but the characters were technically starting high school (which would make them roughly 13-14). The character's dialogue, mannerisms, an actions all screamed middle grade to me. The writing at times wasn't my favorite, in that it almost felt perfunctory vs conversational, especially Ciel's attitudes towards her boyfriend.
My favorite part of this book was just the way it let Ciel and Stephie and Liam live. They all have different experiences as trans kids and showing them living their lives, doing every day regular things was great. There's also a good balance in addressing transphobia both within and outside the queer community throughout the book.
Not a whole lot happens in this book and it's very character based so be aware of that before starting, but as a queer middle grade I would recommend it over and over again. We absolutely need more trans and nonbinary rep in younger books and seeing this in a school library or classroom would be amazing.
rep: nonbinary MC, trans secondary characters, queer secondary characters, set in Canada
Now I'm calling this a middle grade/early YA because it read like a middle grade but the characters were technically starting high school (which would make them roughly 13-14). The character's dialogue, mannerisms, an actions all screamed middle grade to me. The writing at times wasn't my favorite, in that it almost felt perfunctory vs conversational, especially Ciel's attitudes towards her boyfriend.
My favorite part of this book was just the way it let Ciel and Stephie and Liam live. They all have different experiences as trans kids and showing them living their lives, doing every day regular things was great. There's also a good balance in addressing transphobia both within and outside the queer community throughout the book.
Not a whole lot happens in this book and it's very character based so be aware of that before starting, but as a queer middle grade I would recommend it over and over again. We absolutely need more trans and nonbinary rep in younger books and seeing this in a school library or classroom would be amazing.
rep: nonbinary MC, trans secondary characters, queer secondary characters, set in Canada