Uh, didn't know this was gonna be as good as it was. Holy wow. Adorable gender discovery ghosty book I should have read in middle school.

This was great! I loved the way that Lukoff presented Bug's journey through the lens of a haunting and a feeling of wrongness. So many tears in this one - both happy and sad!

2.5 stars. There were so many things I loved about this book and the themes here. I loved almost 12 year old Bug. I can see so many kids relating to her mixed feelings approaching middle school. I felt for her with this tricky adolescent time, as well as the death of her uncle. Themes of grief, identity, and growing up are present. And I super applaud a book for kids about gender identity and a transgender character. It’s also an Own Voices book which is great. What I did not love was the execution of the story. It just seemed hokey to me which was unfortunate. The juxtaposition of the supernatural and gender identity seemed really strange. Sometimes you can love the themes of a book but not how it’s written.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff. This is a scary yet wonderful ghost story of kid named Bug whose Uncle has recently passed away. Bug is struggling to deal with the passing of Uncle Roderick, upcoming middle school, and the increased ghostly activity in the house. Bug has some coming of age realizations towards the end. I can't really say more without giving away some plot points. Just read this book!

I thought it was a good story though the ending felt very idyllic and I worry about the kids who experience much different responses. If I consider it from the lens of how we *should* respond with acceptance of others then I can appreciate it as the authors hope that it might serve to model appropriate inclusive behavior to readers from all walks.

This book was so beautiful and made me cry in my car while eating lunch when I was reading it. I can't keep it on my shelves in my library. Absolutely beautiful book that belongs in elementary, middle, and high school libraries.

This was such a lovely and haunting middle grade novel. The story of Bug, who is living in a haunted house coming to terms with a loved one's death and their own gender identity. There was nothing heavy handed or spectacular about this story - it was ordinary in all the good ways.