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Zenobia July
The critically acclaimed author of Felix Yz crafts a bold, heartfelt story about a trans girl solving a cyber mystery and coming into her own.
Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she's in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she's coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she's able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was.
When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school's website, Zenobia knows she's the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time. Timely and touching, Zenobia July is, at its heart, a story about finding home.
Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she's in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she's coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she's able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was.
When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school's website, Zenobia knows she's the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time. Timely and touching, Zenobia July is, at its heart, a story about finding home.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2019
About the author
Lisa Bunker
6 books78 followersLisa Bunker has written stories all her life. Before setting up shop as a full-time author she had a 30-year career in non-commercial broadcasting, most recently as Program Director of the community radio station in Portland, Maine. Besides Maine she has made homes in New Mexico, the LA area, Seattle, the Florida panhandle, and New Hampshire. She now lives in Sacramento, CA with her wife Dawn, an expert on anxiety in children and an author in her own right. Between them they have three grown children. From 2018 to 2022 Lisa represented the town of Exeter in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Her other active interests include chess, birding, choral singing, and playing the bass.
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May 24, 2020
Many thanks to Penguin Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
How can they not know? It just keeps happening that nobody sees and so I've kept going, but I'm always waiting for the hammer to fall, and I hate having this hammer over my head. I hate it.
This is truly one of the best books I have read this year. It’s Wonder but instead of physical disfigurement, gender is the main topic of interest.
So, what’s this book about?
As mentioned above this book is like Wonder but it explores gender instead. It follows a diverse cast of characters, each trying to figure out who they are.
Character
♠ Zenobia July - By far, Zen was one of my favorite characters of 2019. She is a middle schooler who is currently going through her transition from male to female. But, as most middle schoolers are, she is full of insecurity. I could totally relate to her. It was really enjoyable to see the topic of gender covered in a middle-grade novel.
♠ Arli - Arli is a very complicated character. Vo (Ven chosen pronouns) is also dealing with ver own insecurities. Ver family is a mess. Arli is trying to cope and is also trying to figure out ven gender.
♠ Aunties - I love the Aunties. I won’t go into them to much because I don’t want to ruin the fun. The Aunties are silly, smart and all around great people. Just go read the book and enjoy the silly fun.
♠ Melissa - SCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRREEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW MELISSSSSSSAAAAAAAA. Okay, fine, she does have some redeemable qualities but still. Screw her.
♠ Natalie - She sucks to.
As I said, gender is a huge theme in this book. While this theme is explored in a wide array of novels, I have never seen it explored this thoroughly and in such an intamite way. I personally have struggled with my own gender dysphoria and I almost felt as though the author had reached into my brain and put my story on paper. I am not transgender but I have thought about it even before I knew what exactly it was. I loved getting to see the whole process, messy thoughts and all in such a unique and realistic way.
Another huge theme in this book is friendship. I loved getting to see Arli and Zen becomes friends. Even though it did feel a bit forced, it was very enjoyable and made me wish for a friend like that.
Overall, this was an amazing novel that explored gender and friendship.
Bottom Line:
5 Stars
Age Rating: [ PG ]
TW: Transphobia
Cover: 4/5 ~ Plot: 5/5 ~ Characters: 5/5
Publisher - Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date - May 21st, 2019
Series - Stand-alone
Genre - LGBT/Contemporary
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June 6, 2019
Personal stuff below.
So. Gender. What does it mean to me?
Honestly, it's simple:
"He" negates me. "He" erases me.
I've always known that I'm different. Since I was little I knew that I wasn't a boy. I've never been completely sure that I'm the opposite, but I've always been comfortable -- for the most part -- existing as something in-between.
And of course it was painful. I thought it was a phase, at first, just a flight of my imagination. But it persisted. And it hurt, and it flew in the face of everything I was taught was acceptable. But it persisted, and grew, and though I decided to hide it behind facial hair and gendered pronouns, it stayed with me, ever present as a shadow.
It wasn't until high school, maybe college, that I could give a name to what I was. Genderqueer. "Non-binary" works too. And while there was liberation in giving name to what I was (and am), I chose to continue wearing the beard.
Oh -- the beard. I should talk about that for a sec. My beard was, in a sense, armor. It protected me from the world, shielded me from the temptation to embrace my nature and the androgyny I've secretly always striven for. It forced me to be a boy, then a man, and the world treated me like a boy, then a man. And I hated it. I hated being shackled to a gender, and I hated knowing that the longer I wore my beard, the longer I embraced overt masculinity, the harder it would be to eventually come out. "How can you say you're not a man," I worried people would say, "when you spent the last ten years looking like a viking?'
I'm still not sure how I would answer that question in high school, or in college (although I did come out to a few queer friends of mine).
I shaved off the beard. I'm approaching thirty and tired of lying by omission.
So.
Hello world,
My name is Chris, and I do not identify as male or female. My pronouns are "they" and "them." I will not wear a beard again, and my dream in life is to eventually look the way I feel. Gender is irrelevant to me -- I love without regard to gender, and I would like to live without regard to gender. Maybe one day I will cross over to the other side, and become something solid, something easily identifiable. But for now, I am what I am.
See me. Hear me. Know me.
See us, hear us, know us, love us.
Peace to Leelah Alcorn.
Peace to Marsha P. Johnson. Peace to Christine Jorgenson.
Peace to Candy Darling. Peace to Eddie Izzard. Peace to Alex Gino.
Peace to Baby Dee. Peace to Anohni. Peace to Julia Yasuda.
Peace to Chloe Dzubilo. Peace to Richard O'Brien. Peace to Poppy Z. Brite.
Peace to Jinkx Monsoon. Peace to Jack Monroe.
Peace to the kathoey, the fa'afafine, the bakla, and all the others I could list.
Peace to Brandon Teena.
You are my parents and my siblings. You are part of my history, and I am part of yours.
Our story is true, and beautiful, and unending. You are real -- real as rainbows, real as every cloud and star and particle of sky is real.
Come down to us.
Peace to Arli and Zen, too.
So. Gender. What does it mean to me?
Honestly, it's simple:
"He" negates me. "He" erases me.
I've always known that I'm different. Since I was little I knew that I wasn't a boy. I've never been completely sure that I'm the opposite, but I've always been comfortable -- for the most part -- existing as something in-between.
And of course it was painful. I thought it was a phase, at first, just a flight of my imagination. But it persisted. And it hurt, and it flew in the face of everything I was taught was acceptable. But it persisted, and grew, and though I decided to hide it behind facial hair and gendered pronouns, it stayed with me, ever present as a shadow.
It wasn't until high school, maybe college, that I could give a name to what I was. Genderqueer. "Non-binary" works too. And while there was liberation in giving name to what I was (and am), I chose to continue wearing the beard.
Oh -- the beard. I should talk about that for a sec. My beard was, in a sense, armor. It protected me from the world, shielded me from the temptation to embrace my nature and the androgyny I've secretly always striven for. It forced me to be a boy, then a man, and the world treated me like a boy, then a man. And I hated it. I hated being shackled to a gender, and I hated knowing that the longer I wore my beard, the longer I embraced overt masculinity, the harder it would be to eventually come out. "How can you say you're not a man," I worried people would say, "when you spent the last ten years looking like a viking?'
I'm still not sure how I would answer that question in high school, or in college (although I did come out to a few queer friends of mine).
I shaved off the beard. I'm approaching thirty and tired of lying by omission.
So.
Hello world,
My name is Chris, and I do not identify as male or female. My pronouns are "they" and "them." I will not wear a beard again, and my dream in life is to eventually look the way I feel. Gender is irrelevant to me -- I love without regard to gender, and I would like to live without regard to gender. Maybe one day I will cross over to the other side, and become something solid, something easily identifiable. But for now, I am what I am.
See me. Hear me. Know me.
See us, hear us, know us, love us.
Peace to Leelah Alcorn.
Peace to Marsha P. Johnson. Peace to Christine Jorgenson.
Peace to Candy Darling. Peace to Eddie Izzard. Peace to Alex Gino.
Peace to Baby Dee. Peace to Anohni. Peace to Julia Yasuda.
Peace to Chloe Dzubilo. Peace to Richard O'Brien. Peace to Poppy Z. Brite.
Peace to Jinkx Monsoon. Peace to Jack Monroe.
Peace to the kathoey, the fa'afafine, the bakla, and all the others I could list.
Peace to Brandon Teena.
You are my parents and my siblings. You are part of my history, and I am part of yours.
Our story is true, and beautiful, and unending. You are real -- real as rainbows, real as every cloud and star and particle of sky is real.
Come down to us.
Peace to Arli and Zen, too.
Read
April 8, 2019One thing I really like about Lisa Bunker's books is that the LGBT+ characters have actual stories instead of Just Being Gay (or trans, or what have you). In this one, Zenobia fights cybercrime while potentially commiting some of her own. She's trans, it's a major part of the story, but it isn't the only part of the story. She's a well-rounded character, and she's so lovable.
One of the things I really don't like about Lisa Bunker's books is the way gender neutral pronouns are handled. Arli uses the pronouns vo/ven/veir, which is fine. They don't flow on the page very well (or off the tongue very well), but they're the pronouns this character is choosing to use. Except! After Zenobia learns that these are Arli's pronouns, she starts using them for the mysterious hacker she's trying to catch. I get WHY -- she doesn't know the hacker's gender, so gender neutral pronouns are the way to go -- but I don't LIKE it. Those pronouns are very, very specific to one person in her life, and using vo/ven/veir for the hacker instead of they/them made it really unclear whether she was referring to Arli or the hacker.
Other issues: the messaging interaction with Arli explaining what it means to be genderqueer was VERY preachy and not handled well, which surprised me because I thought Grandy's gender in Bunker's previous book was explained much more naturally. The conflict between Arli and Zen was resolved way too quickly for how big of a deal it was. The interludes were terrible, added nothing to the story, and actually detracted from Bunker's (generally) masterful characterization work.
Things I loved: the friendship that didn't work out was handled gently and realistically; the exploration of Zen's gender identity wasn't explained solely through "but I want to wear the pretty dresses!"; the grandma who doesn't get it and still misgenders her grandkid but obviously still loves her -- those complicated family relationships are something that Bunker writes so well; and, best of all, UNCLE SPRINK. I would like a YA book about a young Uncle Sprink starting his drag career immediately, pls.
One of the things I really don't like about Lisa Bunker's books is the way gender neutral pronouns are handled. Arli uses the pronouns vo/ven/veir, which is fine. They don't flow on the page very well (or off the tongue very well), but they're the pronouns this character is choosing to use. Except! After Zenobia learns that these are Arli's pronouns, she starts using them for the mysterious hacker she's trying to catch. I get WHY -- she doesn't know the hacker's gender, so gender neutral pronouns are the way to go -- but I don't LIKE it. Those pronouns are very, very specific to one person in her life, and using vo/ven/veir for the hacker instead of they/them made it really unclear whether she was referring to Arli or the hacker.
Other issues: the messaging interaction with Arli explaining what it means to be genderqueer was VERY preachy and not handled well, which surprised me because I thought Grandy's gender in Bunker's previous book was explained much more naturally. The conflict between Arli and Zen was resolved way too quickly for how big of a deal it was. The interludes were terrible, added nothing to the story, and actually detracted from Bunker's (generally) masterful characterization work.
Things I loved: the friendship that didn't work out was handled gently and realistically; the exploration of Zen's gender identity wasn't explained solely through "but I want to wear the pretty dresses!"; the grandma who doesn't get it and still misgenders her grandkid but obviously still loves her -- those complicated family relationships are something that Bunker writes so well; and, best of all, UNCLE SPRINK. I would like a YA book about a young Uncle Sprink starting his drag career immediately, pls.
January 22, 2020
This might be the queerest book I’ve ever read, ft. trans girl, trans boy, genderqueer person, vo/ven pronouns, lesbian guardians, and a drag queen?? We stan. This book was such as wholesome, adorable, heartwarming story, without undercutting and sugarcoating a trans experience. While I can’t speak to the experience myself, Zenobia does experience dysphoria and the fear of being outed, and I think to have that tackled, especially in a middle grade novel, is so important. This book also managed to be a book about friendship and family, introduce and flesh out multiple diverse and quirky characters. If you’re trying to read more diversely, or even if you just want a really cozy read, I’d definitely recommend Zenobia July.
Read
June 4, 2019Liked this trans girl MG so much. Really memorable and varied secondary cast, no deadnaming (though there is misgendering of another character), and I love that the MC is a cybergenius.
July 8, 2019
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. YOU GUYS. Add this to your #TBR STAT if you work in a middle school. It’s phenomenal. I am about to do a terrible job describing it because I just cannot capture its amazingness in words that do it justice.
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Zen is starting over in a new state and new school when she moves in with her aunts. She can finally be who she really is and wear what she really wants, including dresses. She falls in with a quirky crew, including Arli, who is trying to figure out ver own gender and has been using gender neutral pronouns all ver life. As Zen struggles to come out as transgender, she runs into trouble with a guy at school who she is convinced hacked the school website - she just has to prove it. (Yes, she’s a b.a. hacker too) This story will have you cheering for Zen and her quirky friends as they struggle to define who they really are amid the changes middle school brings anyway. Highly recommend for all middle school readers and libraries.
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Zen is starting over in a new state and new school when she moves in with her aunts. She can finally be who she really is and wear what she really wants, including dresses. She falls in with a quirky crew, including Arli, who is trying to figure out ver own gender and has been using gender neutral pronouns all ver life. As Zen struggles to come out as transgender, she runs into trouble with a guy at school who she is convinced hacked the school website - she just has to prove it. (Yes, she’s a b.a. hacker too) This story will have you cheering for Zen and her quirky friends as they struggle to define who they really are amid the changes middle school brings anyway. Highly recommend for all middle school readers and libraries.
Want to read
December 12, 2021GIVE ME!!
Read
June 11, 2019Okay, I really feel the need to have two separate reviews for this one.
First, the story itself. It was...okay, but there was some pretty big issues with it, mainly with regards to the hacking. I'm not a hacker, but I do have some decent programming knowledge, and while some of the basic details worked--and there are plenty of hackers that are pre-teens--it went way overboard into Zen basically being able to do magic with a keyboard. I may not know much about hacking, but I do know that she wouldn't have been able to instantly make a game do whatever she wanted in real time. Beyond that, everything was tied up a bit too easily--not terribly surprising for middle-grade, but it made the ending feel a bit rushed and the book as a whole feel somewhat unfinished. Overall, the story is a perfectly adequate, unremarkable middle-grade book, which I'm sure will appeal to much of the target demographic.
Second, of course, is the rep. Because like it or not, a book like this can't just be looked at solely by the story on its own merits (and, let's be honest, that isn't why I picked it up in the first place). There are so few books with trans main characters, which means this book has to stand as one of the only examples of trans rep in this entire category. It's clear the author is aware of this, because this book has all the rep. Not literally, of course, but in addition to Zen being trans, there are her aunts (a married same-sex couple, never explicitly labeled as lesbian/bi/pan/whatever), a drag queen, a nonbinary character, and another trans character. Also, considering Zen's past clearly involves a bunch of religiously-based transphobia and enforced gender norms, and the general iffiness of adolescents reacting to gender identity, there were a lot less hurtful comments and situations than I anticipated (there definitely are some, though).
For a middle-grade audience who may or may not even be familiar with the concept of gender identity in the first place, it hits a really good balance of explaining and normalizing. While a few characters have trouble accepting Zen's identity, it's made clear that she is who she is. The same is true for the other characters as well. It's really easy to empathize with Zen's struggle to navigate the difference between who she knows she is deep down and how her physical body is, and that experience has also made her more understanding towards what others are going through. At the same time, she has a lot of undealt with frustration and anger that she occasionally has a hard time reining in.
For a middle-grade character, Zen is a pretty good role model not just of being yourself (which is probably to be expected), but also about learning how to find and open up to the people you can trust while creating a safe, but not hostile, distance from those you can't. That's an incredibly important skill for anyone, and one I rarely see done so well at this level, when it's needed the most. Zen doesn't vilify the "bad" characters (at least not ultimately), but she also doesn't feel the need to change who she is to meet their approval. The one instance where she technically does (by plucking her eyebrows after being teased about them) is less about changing who she is and more about simply navigating what it means to be a girl in our society, and the end result actually ends up making her happier and more comfortable with herself.
First, the story itself. It was...okay, but there was some pretty big issues with it, mainly with regards to the hacking. I'm not a hacker, but I do have some decent programming knowledge, and while some of the basic details worked--and there are plenty of hackers that are pre-teens--it went way overboard into Zen basically being able to do magic with a keyboard. I may not know much about hacking, but I do know that she wouldn't have been able to instantly make a game do whatever she wanted in real time. Beyond that, everything was tied up a bit too easily--not terribly surprising for middle-grade, but it made the ending feel a bit rushed and the book as a whole feel somewhat unfinished. Overall, the story is a perfectly adequate, unremarkable middle-grade book, which I'm sure will appeal to much of the target demographic.
Second, of course, is the rep. Because like it or not, a book like this can't just be looked at solely by the story on its own merits (and, let's be honest, that isn't why I picked it up in the first place). There are so few books with trans main characters, which means this book has to stand as one of the only examples of trans rep in this entire category. It's clear the author is aware of this, because this book has all the rep. Not literally, of course, but in addition to Zen being trans, there are her aunts (a married same-sex couple, never explicitly labeled as lesbian/bi/pan/whatever), a drag queen, a nonbinary character, and another trans character. Also, considering Zen's past clearly involves a bunch of religiously-based transphobia and enforced gender norms, and the general iffiness of adolescents reacting to gender identity, there were a lot less hurtful comments and situations than I anticipated (there definitely are some, though).
For a middle-grade audience who may or may not even be familiar with the concept of gender identity in the first place, it hits a really good balance of explaining and normalizing. While a few characters have trouble accepting Zen's identity, it's made clear that she is who she is. The same is true for the other characters as well. It's really easy to empathize with Zen's struggle to navigate the difference between who she knows she is deep down and how her physical body is, and that experience has also made her more understanding towards what others are going through. At the same time, she has a lot of undealt with frustration and anger that she occasionally has a hard time reining in.
For a middle-grade character, Zen is a pretty good role model not just of being yourself (which is probably to be expected), but also about learning how to find and open up to the people you can trust while creating a safe, but not hostile, distance from those you can't. That's an incredibly important skill for anyone, and one I rarely see done so well at this level, when it's needed the most. Zen doesn't vilify the "bad" characters (at least not ultimately), but she also doesn't feel the need to change who she is to meet their approval. The one instance where she technically does (by plucking her eyebrows after being teased about them) is less about changing who she is and more about simply navigating what it means to be a girl in our society, and the end result actually ends up making her happier and more comfortable with herself.
March 27, 2023
An incredibly moving middle grade novel about a transgender girl starting over at a new school after the death of her father. Now an orphan and living with her Aunt, Zenobia is dealing with grief and body dysphoria. She also gets wrapped up in discovering who is responsible for posting hateful anti-trans messages on a school site. I really loved the friendship between Zenobia and Arli, a nonbinary classmate with anxiety. Great on audio narrated by Taylor Meskimen.
June 14, 2019
TWs:
bullying/cyberbullying/harassment, forced outing of a side character, peripheral transphobia and islamophobia, religious fanaticism as a disguise for homophobia, and depictions of dysphoria
August 4, 2019
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 for ZENOBIA JULY by #LisaBunker
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#lgbtq🌈 #mglit fans —be sure to get your hands on this awesome #trans coming of age novel. ZENOBIA JULY is a fun mystery full of heart. I just loved seeing Zen grow in confidence and find acceptance. 💙
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Zenobia July has moved to Portland, ME to live with her crunchy, lesbian aunts after her conservative father has died (her mom died when she was little). This is also an opportunity to start over as the girl she knows she is. Challenges abound, both internal and external. When and how should she tell her friends, particularly genderqueer Arli (vo, ven, Brit)? What can she do to feel more comfortable in her body? Can she be friends with Melissa, a kind but conservative and homophobic girl in her school? When another student is outed as trans, Zenobia becomes even more afraid. Her confidence grows, however, when she uses her hacker skills to find out who has been putting anti-Muslim and transphobic messages on the school website. Zenobia also discovers that she has all the support she needs.
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The Other Boy by @m.g.hennessey is a popular read in my library; can’t wait to recommend this to all those same readers. Grades 4+. Must buy for all elementary and middle school libraries!
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#librariansofinstagram #librariesofinstagram #mglit #mgbooks #ilovemg #lgbtqfiction #transgender #zenobiajuly #lisabunker #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #amreading #audiobook #sora
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#lgbtq🌈 #mglit fans —be sure to get your hands on this awesome #trans coming of age novel. ZENOBIA JULY is a fun mystery full of heart. I just loved seeing Zen grow in confidence and find acceptance. 💙
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Zenobia July has moved to Portland, ME to live with her crunchy, lesbian aunts after her conservative father has died (her mom died when she was little). This is also an opportunity to start over as the girl she knows she is. Challenges abound, both internal and external. When and how should she tell her friends, particularly genderqueer Arli (vo, ven, Brit)? What can she do to feel more comfortable in her body? Can she be friends with Melissa, a kind but conservative and homophobic girl in her school? When another student is outed as trans, Zenobia becomes even more afraid. Her confidence grows, however, when she uses her hacker skills to find out who has been putting anti-Muslim and transphobic messages on the school website. Zenobia also discovers that she has all the support she needs.
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The Other Boy by @m.g.hennessey is a popular read in my library; can’t wait to recommend this to all those same readers. Grades 4+. Must buy for all elementary and middle school libraries!
.
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#librariansofinstagram #librariesofinstagram #mglit #mgbooks #ilovemg #lgbtqfiction #transgender #zenobiajuly #lisabunker #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #amreading #audiobook #sora
July 13, 2019
I loved this book, which was totally different from the author's first book but just as powerful in its own regard. The way this author handles gender stuff is just phenomenal, incorporating specific experiences that trans and nonbinary people have that are rarely, if ever, featured in literature of any time. The story has a LOT happening in it all at once, which I imagine would be overwhelming for some readers and exhilarating for others (like it was for me). It had a little bit of a mystery element to it, which I normally do not like, but it was integrated into the plot so neatly that it worked for me.
I do plan to re-read this with more attention to how the author handles race/ethnicity. I admit that I was so captivated by the story that I made some mental notes to myself about things that seemed "off" to me with regard to this, but don't remember now exactly what that was about.
I do plan to re-read this with more attention to how the author handles race/ethnicity. I admit that I was so captivated by the story that I made some mental notes to myself about things that seemed "off" to me with regard to this, but don't remember now exactly what that was about.
July 22, 2019
Video games and hacking are Zenobia's passions, abilities that come in handy when someone defaces her new middle school’s website with racial slurs. Zen and her new friend Arli are determined to find out the culprit but while she is getting closer to her new friend, she's getting more nervous about sharing a her past with them, a past in a different state before she lived with her two Aunties, and before she was allowed to wear dresses. This book celebrates our beautiful differences while also highlighting the difficulties that often come with that personal expression. Ultimately, it is a dazzling reminder for us to be ourselves no matter how our society tries to label us.
February 2, 2019
One of the best trans books I've read. I also really loved the author's delicate and honest portrayal of Christian Evangelism. I wish the editor had cut out the "interludes". I will be interested to see what those look like in the final print version.
June 17, 2020
You guys!!!!! This book is so good. All the gender goodness! All the pronoun goodness! All the girl hacker goodness! Just read!
November 13, 2022
Wonderful topic which could have been explored better but falls flat.
Change is always hard for most of us, especially for kids when they have to move schools leaving their comfort zone behind. In this book, our protagonist Zenobia has moved different states and schools. She has left her home state of Arizona to live with her aunts in Maine and has joined a new school. On top of this she also has big secret that she is carrying. She is a transgender kid who has decided to transition from boy to a girl . Nobody at her new school knows about this and she is worried and scared that somebody might find out about this secret of hers.
Zenobia has amazing coding, hacking and gaming skills. Before moving to Maine, she always led a very secluded life just existing online. She makes some likeminded friends at the new school and starts to come out of her shell. But of course middle school also comes with bullying of varying kinds and she too bears the brunt of it. An anonymous hacker starts posting hateful memes on the school website and Zenobia knows that she can be helpful in bringing forward the poster. But is she garnering too much attention towards herself when she wants to just mingle in the crowd and be invisible? The story proceeds to find out the rest
The reason that I picked this book was to find out more about how adolescent kids going through a life altering change would deal with it. How they would face the challenges. Unfortunately the book ended up being a regular mg fiction with a science fiction touch and a twist on the protagonist. The characters are highly unidimensional and the only likeable character for me was Aunt Phil. Overall it was a very okay read for me
My rating for this is 3.25 rounded to 3
Change is always hard for most of us, especially for kids when they have to move schools leaving their comfort zone behind. In this book, our protagonist Zenobia has moved different states and schools. She has left her home state of Arizona to live with her aunts in Maine and has joined a new school. On top of this she also has big secret that she is carrying. She is a transgender kid who has decided to transition from boy to a girl . Nobody at her new school knows about this and she is worried and scared that somebody might find out about this secret of hers.
Zenobia has amazing coding, hacking and gaming skills. Before moving to Maine, she always led a very secluded life just existing online. She makes some likeminded friends at the new school and starts to come out of her shell. But of course middle school also comes with bullying of varying kinds and she too bears the brunt of it. An anonymous hacker starts posting hateful memes on the school website and Zenobia knows that she can be helpful in bringing forward the poster. But is she garnering too much attention towards herself when she wants to just mingle in the crowd and be invisible? The story proceeds to find out the rest
The reason that I picked this book was to find out more about how adolescent kids going through a life altering change would deal with it. How they would face the challenges. Unfortunately the book ended up being a regular mg fiction with a science fiction touch and a twist on the protagonist. The characters are highly unidimensional and the only likeable character for me was Aunt Phil. Overall it was a very okay read for me
My rating for this is 3.25 rounded to 3
February 13, 2022
Ahh my heart is so full after finishing this.
Zenobia is such a great character — very flawed but always sympathetic/relatable. And she’s so weird! I loved that. Let your queer and trans middle grade characters be weirdos!
Also, she’s a cyber genius! The hacking/cyber mystery plot was v exciting and I liked the resolution a lot.
I love the found family and the vast array of genders, sexualities and gender expression represented (there’s the main trans girl character, her best friend who’s a genderqueer and I think aro/ace character, a side trans boy character, queer aunts, & a drag Queen uncle).
Zenobia is such a great character — very flawed but always sympathetic/relatable. And she’s so weird! I loved that. Let your queer and trans middle grade characters be weirdos!
Also, she’s a cyber genius! The hacking/cyber mystery plot was v exciting and I liked the resolution a lot.
I love the found family and the vast array of genders, sexualities and gender expression represented (there’s the main trans girl character, her best friend who’s a genderqueer and I think aro/ace character, a side trans boy character, queer aunts, & a drag Queen uncle).
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September 30, 2020
4.65. It is a very good, representative, and underrated book.
June 17, 2022
Really sweet. If you're looking for a book featuring a trans main character for your tween, this is a great one.
August 13, 2023
Love how gender diverse and also queer this book is.
August 12, 2019
The representation in this one was top-tier. I wasn’t going to pick it up when the summary started with Zenobia’s love of computers, but when it said she was a young trans girl, I was sold. Some trans narratives I’ve read are unintentionally offensive and not interesting, but Zenobia did not disappoint! The representation was so wonderful, including two lesbian women (Zen’s aunts), a trans boy, (Zen’s friend Elijah), and a genderqueer character (Zen’s friend Arli) who uses the pronouns vo/ven/veir. Zen’s aunts’ friend is also a drag queen, and he does Zen’s makeup in a very sweet scene. I do wish we got a little more of Paul in the story, the boy who likes Zen but doesn’t know how to approach her. His “Seeing Zen” chapter struck me as particularly sweet:
“Her nickname is Zen, but her full name is Zenobia July. I found that out. I heard them talking about her in the office, and I remembered. She’s about four feet eleven inches tall, which I know because she was standing next to Walter Bowman in the hall for a minute between classes and they looked like they were the exact same height, and then I stood next to Walter Bowman later in Mr. Ellison’s class by the pencil sharpener and I looked at where his head reached on the poster on the wall, and then I measured with my hand where my head reached on the poster, and it was about two inches higher than Walter Bowman’s head, and I’m five feet one inch tall...
What does she look like? Well, um, she’s... I don’t know... I guess she has dark hair that it looks like she wants to grow out, because it’s pretty short and sometimes she pulls at it like she wishes it reached down to her shoulders. And I guess her clothes are a little weird. I heard someone making fun of her clothes. But who cares about clothes, I mean, right?
Do I think she’s pretty?
I dunno. Stop bugging me, okay?”
All in all, Zenobia July is a sweet coming-of-age novel that speaks true to the middle school experience and just so happens to be about a trans girl.
“Her nickname is Zen, but her full name is Zenobia July. I found that out. I heard them talking about her in the office, and I remembered. She’s about four feet eleven inches tall, which I know because she was standing next to Walter Bowman in the hall for a minute between classes and they looked like they were the exact same height, and then I stood next to Walter Bowman later in Mr. Ellison’s class by the pencil sharpener and I looked at where his head reached on the poster on the wall, and then I measured with my hand where my head reached on the poster, and it was about two inches higher than Walter Bowman’s head, and I’m five feet one inch tall...
What does she look like? Well, um, she’s... I don’t know... I guess she has dark hair that it looks like she wants to grow out, because it’s pretty short and sometimes she pulls at it like she wishes it reached down to her shoulders. And I guess her clothes are a little weird. I heard someone making fun of her clothes. But who cares about clothes, I mean, right?
Do I think she’s pretty?
I dunno. Stop bugging me, okay?”
All in all, Zenobia July is a sweet coming-of-age novel that speaks true to the middle school experience and just so happens to be about a trans girl.
October 28, 2019
Mixed feelings about this one. The pacing and tone felt a little uneven at times, with the abrupt switches between Zen's (relatively cheery) perspective and the concerned reflections of the adults in her life. The language also seemed a bit patronizing for a book rated for ages 10 and up. There's a point where she's trying to piss and mentions how her 'squeezer' muscles won't unclench--why not just say the sphincter won't relax? On the other hand, the imprecise terminology works may reflect Zen's general squeamishness towards medical issues and her own physicality. It's also a tad unrealistic in that a ten year old probably couldn't successfully hack a MMORG site in 2019, much less do so without being detected by security. The plot and the characters are also fairly predictable--at least, I'd assume, to anyone passingly familiar with queer culture.
What makes this book exceptional then, is representation. There aren't many children's books with trans protagonists, much less trans protagonists in the place of the hero rather than the victim. There also aren't a lot of children's novels that deal seriously with discomfort and anxiety centered on their bodies--even though this isn't an issue confined to trans people. It's a sensitive and challenging topic to write on, for young adults, let alone children, and Blume's "Deenie" is the only book handling it that comes to mind (outside of numerous ones dealing with eating disorders). There also aren't a lot of books that deal with queer culture from a child's perspective, or even simply the non-sexualized aspects of queer culture--even though the sexualization of queerness tends to estrange a lot of ace and demi folks in the community.
What makes this book exceptional then, is representation. There aren't many children's books with trans protagonists, much less trans protagonists in the place of the hero rather than the victim. There also aren't a lot of children's novels that deal seriously with discomfort and anxiety centered on their bodies--even though this isn't an issue confined to trans people. It's a sensitive and challenging topic to write on, for young adults, let alone children, and Blume's "Deenie" is the only book handling it that comes to mind (outside of numerous ones dealing with eating disorders). There also aren't a lot of books that deal with queer culture from a child's perspective, or even simply the non-sexualized aspects of queer culture--even though the sexualization of queerness tends to estrange a lot of ace and demi folks in the community.
November 18, 2020
Was very good, and is just overall a really great book. If you like a zany, cool and deep book, this ones for you. Zenobia is going to a new school and makes new friends along the way. Can she keep up her act, or will they figure it out, read to find out!
September 14, 2019
This is the most adorable middle-grade book I will read this year.
January 28, 2020
I haven't used my good reads account in a long time but this book was phenomenal and important and I cried.
June 25, 2021
A middle-grade book with a transgender girl with serious hacking skills. I picked this book up because that was enough to get me interested. I wasn’t fully sure what to expect, but I had good hopes.
Zenobia July is living with her aunts in Maine after her father dies. When she lived with her father she hid behind her computer, becoming amazing with a computer and developing great hacking and coding skills. With her aunts she’s able to live authentically. They’ve also allowed her to live as a girl, which she wasn’t able to do prior. When someone starts posting hateful memes on the school’s website, Zenobia decides that she will find whoever is doing this and make them stop.
I really kind of love this book. It’s not an overly deep book or one with a lot of angst. I just thought that this book was fun and wacky. The characters were weird in the best ways, and it was fun. Zenobia was practically a genius hacker, and it seemed a bit like a kids show/movie. It’s not exactly a realistic book, but I never expected it to be.
My favorite part of this book was the characters. All of these characters were different and identifiable, and they were so much fun. Zenobia is dealing with her past and dealing with her two wacky aunts. The two aunts are trying their best in the ways that they know. Zenobia’s new friends are fun, especially Arli. There also wasn’t a lot of focus on the queer representation, at least not in a bad way. Characters do have to come out and there are problems, but the focus isn’t on all of the bad things that can happen when you come out.
Zenobia is transgender and that is discussed throughout the book, both in the present and past. It was messy, but it was explored quite well. Zenobia’s doubts and worries were laid bare. It was honest and touching and it explored Zenobia’s feelings about being denied this and then being allowed. I genuinely just loved Zenobia. She doesn’t always seem like a real character, she’s practically a genius and it’s a bit hard to believe at times. But I love her. She’s complicated and rude at times, but it’s what I expect from a teenager especially one who’s finally being allowed to live truly after years in a bad situation.
I have a couple of things I’m not a huge fan of, but they didn’t take much away from the book. One of my things is that this is a middle-grade book with an AR test, but you should be warned that there are some curse words. Some people might not want to have their younger kids read curse words. My other thing is that there are times where the kids don’t feel and talk like kids.
Seriously, I loved this book. It was fun and amused me so much. I didn’t really want to put it down after picking it up. I just genuinely enjoyed reading it so much.
Zenobia July is living with her aunts in Maine after her father dies. When she lived with her father she hid behind her computer, becoming amazing with a computer and developing great hacking and coding skills. With her aunts she’s able to live authentically. They’ve also allowed her to live as a girl, which she wasn’t able to do prior. When someone starts posting hateful memes on the school’s website, Zenobia decides that she will find whoever is doing this and make them stop.
I really kind of love this book. It’s not an overly deep book or one with a lot of angst. I just thought that this book was fun and wacky. The characters were weird in the best ways, and it was fun. Zenobia was practically a genius hacker, and it seemed a bit like a kids show/movie. It’s not exactly a realistic book, but I never expected it to be.
My favorite part of this book was the characters. All of these characters were different and identifiable, and they were so much fun. Zenobia is dealing with her past and dealing with her two wacky aunts. The two aunts are trying their best in the ways that they know. Zenobia’s new friends are fun, especially Arli. There also wasn’t a lot of focus on the queer representation, at least not in a bad way. Characters do have to come out and there are problems, but the focus isn’t on all of the bad things that can happen when you come out.
Zenobia is transgender and that is discussed throughout the book, both in the present and past. It was messy, but it was explored quite well. Zenobia’s doubts and worries were laid bare. It was honest and touching and it explored Zenobia’s feelings about being denied this and then being allowed. I genuinely just loved Zenobia. She doesn’t always seem like a real character, she’s practically a genius and it’s a bit hard to believe at times. But I love her. She’s complicated and rude at times, but it’s what I expect from a teenager especially one who’s finally being allowed to live truly after years in a bad situation.
I have a couple of things I’m not a huge fan of, but they didn’t take much away from the book. One of my things is that this is a middle-grade book with an AR test, but you should be warned that there are some curse words. Some people might not want to have their younger kids read curse words. My other thing is that there are times where the kids don’t feel and talk like kids.
Seriously, I loved this book. It was fun and amused me so much. I didn’t really want to put it down after picking it up. I just genuinely enjoyed reading it so much.
June 9, 2019
I really liked Zen and enjoyed reading her figure out who she could and would be, who she wanted to be friends with, how to see herself as she wants to. I love the family (related and chosen) and friends that she gains: the Aunties and Uncle Sprink, Arli, Dyna, and to a lesser extent Clem and Elijah. (I appreciated that Zen wasn't the only trans or nonbinary kid; Elijah is trans as well, and Arli is genderqueer.)
I really *didn't* like the cybercrime plotline, though. It was hard for me to believe, and some of the language used for it always brought me out of the story ("cyberlandium" in particular).
Zen switching to using Arli's pronouns for the unknown hacker is a little odd, but I guess not less correct than any other gender-neutral pronoun.
I still have a whole bunch of unanswered questions about Arli.
It's just one line, but Arli says that vo is "not a romantic or dating or whatever sort of person. At all, really." And I'm reading that as Arli being aro, but again, it's just one line.
CW: lots of anti-transness, misgendering, outing, some broader anti-queerness (mostly off-page), anti-Muslim comments (off-page), bullying, abuse, death of parents, references to gun violence (hunting accident and suicide), online radicalization?.
I really *didn't* like the cybercrime plotline, though. It was hard for me to believe, and some of the language used for it always brought me out of the story ("cyberlandium" in particular).
Zen switching to using Arli's pronouns for the unknown hacker is a little odd, but I guess not less correct than any other gender-neutral pronoun.
I still have a whole bunch of unanswered questions about Arli.
It's just one line, but Arli says that vo is "not a romantic or dating or whatever sort of person. At all, really." And I'm reading that as Arli being aro, but again, it's just one line.
CW: lots of anti-transness, misgendering, outing, some broader anti-queerness (mostly off-page), anti-Muslim comments (off-page), bullying, abuse, death of parents, references to gun violence (hunting accident and suicide), online radicalization?.
August 15, 2023
This is my favorite of Lisa Bunker's books. Part of that's associated with just how great of a character Zenobia is and I think part of it too is that I love seeing trans girls in middle grade and YA. Out of all of the trans and non-binary representation, which is still not a ton, I feel like a lot of it is trans masc and trans guys which is wonderful, but I love seeing trans girls get their spotlight as well.
This book is all about Zenobia who ends up living with her two aunts after an accident and she starts at a new school and gets roped into the oddball lunch table. There's so much queer representation in this book and I love that and I really just liked how wholesome this one was. Would definitely recommend.
This book is all about Zenobia who ends up living with her two aunts after an accident and she starts at a new school and gets roped into the oddball lunch table. There's so much queer representation in this book and I love that and I really just liked how wholesome this one was. Would definitely recommend.
August 10, 2022
Gorgeous book and superbly suitable for older primary kids giving some very real insight into the inner battles of a trans girl. Zenobia, through a difficult change in home circumstance, comes to live with her aunt and her wife, who, predictably, are the perfect people to support her making a new life for herself as the teenage girl she knows she is, leaving the boy behind her. The kindness of Uncle Sprink and the aunts warms your heart. There’s plenty of small mindedness, bullying, outing and other discomfort, but a diverse set of new friends, some wicked coding skills, recognising inner strength and unexpected warmth balance all of this out. 11+.
October 21, 2021
A great read for upper elementary and middle school students! I could not put this book down. A must for all libraries!!
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