btw earlier in this stack of reviews I said I'd listened to 3 audiobooks in the last week but actually it was 4. I mean middle grade audios are like 4 hours long so it's been breezy. Anyway this is why I haven't done anything in the past week except read. I'm very behind on television. I STRUGGLE.

ok enough about my PROBLEMS, I loved this book and I think it's great that the audiobook reader is OwnVoices for the character.

I love that this is a book that validates young trans people in a slightly different way than a lot of other youth media and in fact seems to be in conversation with some other media--reassuring readers that it's okay to be questioning and not to immediately always KNOW your gender identity and that that doesn't make it any less valid (but nor does it invalidate those who have had a more immediate understanding that they are trans).

Bug is just such a GOOD KID and also their haunted house is cool and ughhh just *chef's kiss*

PHENOMENAL PERFECT BOOK CRYING SHITTING MY PANTS I LOVE TRANS KIDS AND MIDDLE GRADES ABT THEM

First I would like to thank the author for adding a message at the end of the book about how to properly tell people about this book. It didn't even occur to me it would be semi-difficult to do so. I can't quite remember the wording and now I'm regretting turning in my audiobook a day early but someone was waiting in line and I wasn't going to deny them this wonderful book any later. Also, totally recommend the audiobook. Anyway, I'll do my best to paraphrase.

This book follows an 11-year-old child named Bug, the summer before middle school starts, and right after suffering a tragic loss, Uncle Roderick. Losing someone who's helped raise you is hard enough but right before a big change in your life when it feels like the question of "Who am I?" is at the forefront more than ever makes it even harder. Except, it seems Uncle Roderickis trying to be there anyway as Bug senses a presence in the house and comes to the only logical conclusion: the house is being haunted by Uncle Roderick and he has a message to pass along. What's the message? And could that message help Bug figure out why they don't like their birth name very much, why their best friends' obsession with making sure they look fashionable for middle school by wearing cute dresses and makeup sounds dreadful, and why the reflection in the mirror is just not quite right?

I've never read a book before that dealt with gender identity and I was floored. And this was handled so well as it goes in huge depth and when done from a perspective of a child adds a simple "Well of course that's how it is" feeling to it. There's something haunting about the book; maybe becuase of ghosts but that doesn't quite sound right. I cant' quite put my finger on it yet though. Either way please read it!

I only took off one star though because there were moments where the story dragged for a bit so I had to increase the speed of my audiobook to keep me engaged.

A great book for any child in the midgrade age range who has questions on gender identity and what it means to be transgender.

WHERE. WHERE WAS THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS A SMOL. WHERE IS MY GENDER-AFFIRMING GHOST. OH MY GOD.

Easily one of my top reads for 2021, Too Bright to See is a hauntingly beautiful queer middle grade novel.

Eleven year old Bug, who lives in a haunted house, is used to sharing space with ghosts. But not long after Bug’s uncle dies, weird things start happening around Bug, like a ghost is trying to send Bug a message, and just possibly that message will help reveal the identity that has been eluding Bug for years.

First of all, this has everything I could ask for from a queer book: ghosts, complicated friendships, a drag queen, a summer of discovery, and at least one tearjerker moment. The characters have depth and life, even the ones who are deceased. Bug’s slow and sometimes painful journey throughout the book heightens the emotional impact of the ending and the joy Bug experiences.

What an emotional little book- I cried a lot. I am so glad I am going to have this in my library for my kids. What genre to put it in tho...