3.5

“A lot of books have a moral, some lesson about how you
have to stay true to who you are. How it doesn't matter if
you're different, you don't have to act like everyone else,
and that the most important thing is to be yourself. But
those books never tell you how to figure out what your self
is. They assume that you know already, and are pretending
to be someone else for a while to fit in.”

I love the exploration of identity throughout this book. I think this is so important, especially for young readers. However, the pacing and characterization was a bit odd for me. Still, this is an poignant coming of age story…with GHOSTS!

Spectacular book. Manages to be a spooky ghost story and a friendship story and a coming of age story and a coming out story all at once, balanced nicely within so few pages. One scene toward the end feels more aspirational/prescriptive than realistic, but maybe it’s the world we will live in someday. Deserves all its awards!

I'm not crying, you're crying!

Beautiful middle-grade coming-out story wrapped in a ghost story. I love both of those things, so short of being terribly written, this book couldn't miss. Thankfully it was also very well written, and just long enough to do everything it needed to do. I highly recommend this one if you want a quick read that also feels like a very warm hug.

A lot of books have a moral, some lesson about how you have to stay true to who you are. How it doesn’t matter if you're different, you don't have to act like everhone else, and that the most important thing is to be yourself. But those books never tell you how to figure out what your self is. They assume that you know already, and are pretending to be someone else for a while to fit in.
I don't know what my self is, though. Maybe that's true for everyone. Maybe no one is really sure of who they are. I probably have to try out a bunch of different selves until I find one that fits. Maybe being a girl in pretty dresses will fit once I get used to it.

Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff is a book I have been meaning to read for quite a while and it was a truly beautiful unfolding of Bug's story. Gorgeous book about family, friends, loss and grief as well as figuring out who you are at your essence. I don't want to say too much and give away the joy of reading this story unfold.

Well done, middle grade. Read harder challenge.