A review by zinelib
Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff

emotional funny informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This sweet middle-grades not-love story centers on Annabelle (one of two in her sixth grade class of twelve students) and her new best friend, Bailey. Bailey has just moved to the suburbs from Seattle and is the first kid in their small, private school to use they/them pronouns. Most of the kids are cool with it, and Annabelle is entranced, but there's always (at least) one douchebag. Dixon Brewster is That Guy--the one who asks "what about white history" and "what about heterosexuality pride."

Dixon didn't come by his shitty opinions entirely on his own. His mother surveils the class, reports to the principal, and generally stops everything good the rest of the class has planned. And speaking of parents, when Annabelle brings Bailey home to play, her parents are surprisingly rude to Bailey. Annabelle's dad, who is much shorter than Annabelle's mom, says that Bailey needs to figure out which gender he/she is and be that. A classmate, Patrick, calls Dixon out brilliantly,

I want to get solar panels on the roof, are you worried that fossil fuels are going to complain about being left out?

In addition to being a good book with a message, Fruit is a good book, and Annabelle's introspective narration will probably be familiar and poignant to adults who were certain kinds of kids. 

And now I'm like, "Wow, middle school students are so big and old," but I bet that once I get to middle school I'll have the soul of that same kindergartner. Does that ever go away? Will I get to college and still eat my broccoli pretending that I'm a dinosaur eating trees? Or is there some magic point where you become an adult and stop felling like a kid inside?

Author Kyle Lukoff was a school librarian before he went pro as a writer, and you can read that into Annabelle observations like

It's a reminder that a lot of the categories people have come up with are fake. 

Bailey really nails how schools handle difference

But I get you a million dollars they they did id in the worst way possible. that kid probably didn't want to make a big deal of it, but they were bullied so bad that the school was forced to make a decision, and instead of making their school a better place, they decided to get rid of the "problem." 

It's still middle grades though, so Annabelle finishes the above paragraph,

I didn't know fake air quotes culd be violent until Bailey clawed at the word "problem."

"Clawed" with fake air quotes! I love that so much. 

The ending is genuinely heartwarming as secrets are revealed and healed. I want more of Annabelle and Bailey's story!