I loved the care with which the difficult topics of gender and sexuality are presented in this novel, and for middle grade no less! The book was fun heartwarming and eye opening. Life was all the sudden messy and confusing for this 6th grader and she had to find a way to navigate it all. I loved this book and purchased it for my library.

This touching and important story covers a lot of important topics: queer families and the kids of issues they face, gender identity and the wide spectrum it encompasses, friendship and first crushes, intellectual freedom and the choices parents make for their children. This is a good choice for tweens and young teens, especially those curious about any of the previously mentioned topics. It's also beneficial for parents and anyone who wants to learn more about LGBTQ topics.

This book truly felt so unapproachable and preachy all at the same time. I know this was written for middle-grade but I could not think of a single student I would recommend this to.

Thoughtfully written characters engage in an honest exploration of what it means to grow into yourself. Great conversation starter for those wanting to talk through gender and sexuality with the upper middle-grade set!

This had so much potential, and I think for the right kid, this could be a great book. But it felt a little too much like an afterschool special to me. Very info-dumpy and big important conversations but not enough actual story. Also, Annabelle's voice was somewhat confusing because sometimes she sounded too young for her age, and other times she sounded much older.

I really loved this story and felt that it gave children a very approachable way to become more familiar with today's family climate, and how different identities can be accepted and celebrated.

We need more books like this! Especially for this age group. This particular title is unique in its value for both kids and adults. There's something for everyone to learn here.

It's not as exciting and mysterious as Lukoff's last book, but by the end, there is so much going on that it feels worth all the boring suburban pages in the beginning. We meet our main character, Annabelle, in her regular suburban life at a collaborative private school. Things get interesting when a new nonbinary kid names Bailey starts and Annabelle makes friends with them. Having Bailey around makes Annabelle's father grumpy, but it's not because he is transphobic--he's got a whole other life before having Annabelle that he never told her about.

Having Bailey in their lives changes everything for Annabelle's family. We meet a lot of different LGBTQ characters and we watch her family start to actually make friends with other people in the town and outside of it. It all comes together very beautifully in a community, which could feel rigged but in this case it just feels like people who need community finding each other and reaching out.

A fun read that is filled with insights on LGBTQIA+ families and identities. Lukoff captures the spirit of the PacNW in all its variety.

Sixth-grader Annabelle has a lot of her assumptions and knowledge about her family and herself challenged and widened after a new kid, Bailey, joins her class. Bailey confidently states their pronouns at class introductions, and this causes Annabelle to start thinking of how she defines herself to herself and to others. And to feel her first crush for Bailey.

When talking to her parents about the Bailey, Annabelle notices her parents’ increasing discomfort about the topic of gender. After an uncomfortable visit with Bailey at Annabelle's place, Annabelle's parents begin sharing facts and beliefs of theirs from before she was born. These secrets about her parents’ lives before they arrived in Portland shake Annabelle, but begin a great discussion and airing of tensions and truths, prompting Annabelle to really begin thinking about her own gender and sexual preferences. And to realize that not everyone around her shares her willingness to be open to different and new ideas.

This was really good. The fears and confusion Annabelle experiences when her parents react negatively to all the new ideas Annabelle has because of Bailey’s challenges to her worldview were well handled. Author Kyle Lukoff thoughtfully and with warmth presents the idea that gender is much wider than simply binary. This, along with the getting his audience to think about the effects of assumptions about each other, gives kids a great starting place for thinking about inclusion and diversity.

And, Annabelle, though naïve about many things, is likeable and forthright, and I loved her relationship with her parents. For this and the previous points, this book is a 5-star book for me. However, I am reducing my rating by one star because I think Annabelle's father's turnaround on his fears and biases was a little too quick to be fully believable. So, except for this point, I really liked this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Young Readers Group for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I love this book, it made me so happy to read. It was funny and charming and ultimately a relief. I'm so happy children get to read stories like these now and shows them that they are perfectly okay and have a place in the world (and gives them rebuttals for all those jerks out there who try to argue against their having rights). That there is a community for them. I needed books like this when I was younger and so did many of my friends. The fact that it was written exactly how a sixth grader talks and acts is even better, because it makes it feel even more realistic and reassuring. It will give them the knowledge and space to learn about themselves and others around them, in a non-judgemental manner. I really appreciate how the subject was handled and this will absolutely be a book I will suggest to readers around the same age--and even adults! The way Annabelle's parents were feeling is how many of us queer adults feel, especially as the times have changed and we are now freer to express ourselves. We needed what they needed and it really hits home how relatable the characters are in this book. Thank you for that, truly.

Another gem from Kyle Lukoff. This book is so needed in middle grade fiction, especially for the older end of the range. The story is both sentimental and funny with relatable characters.

Well, this was a VERY unexpected book. Very. I am always seeking out books that can help me with what I do not understand or have not experienced for myself. I learn through story and this book provided a compelling story that will take space in my reading heart for a while. Lukoff introduces us to Annabelle, a sixth grade student in a small town hoping for a bit of excitement in her final year of elementary school. And excitement she gets: a new friend, a family shocker, a new identity for herself and a realization that the world does not work in favor of all who live in it. This book explores gender and gender identity in a way that children (and adults) can understand and embrace. Gone are the linear categories and labels in favor of simply knowing who you are and celebrating that is enough. Ah, this book.

I think this book could use a little more nuance, but I loved it. Annabelle's family is one not often seen in books, and her own confusion about labeling her sexuality is also handled well.

I love Middle Grade fiction. It makes up for the majority of my reading, partly due to my job as an elementary school librarian, but also because I think that some of the best writing is to be found here. But this book took the ‘some of the best writing’ statement to a whole new level. Kyle Lukoff tackles subjects that have never been touched on before in MG literature, and that children and their adults very possibly would be oblivious to before reading ‘Different Kinds of Fruit’. And he does it with such grace and cheerfulness that readers will turn the last page being a lot cleverer and with a smile on their face. But also full of questions and an urge to learn and understand more which is exactly what the best books lead their readers to.
Annabelle lives in a very small town where nothing ever happens, but on the first day of 6th grade it turns out that there is a new progressive teacher who is ready to involve the children in decisions about their social studies curriculum, letting them claim ownership of their learning. Even more exciting is the fact that a new, cool kid from the big city joins the class. Bailey declares themself nonbinary and a whole new world opens up to Annabelle and her classmates.
When Annabelle shares the exciting news about Bailey with her usually very open-minded parents there is no mistaking their obvious discomfort. Confronting her father about his behavior towards Bailey, Annabelle learns some well-kept secrets about her family. Her parents want this new knowledge to stay a secret which proves to be somewhat difficult for Annabelle who is of a bubbly and talkative nature.
It turns out that part of their small community is not ready for any kind of change. Every effort their young teacher makes to let the children’s learning be more student centered and involve more recent and relevant subjects is put to a stop. Any effort the students make to take action, especially regarding information on gender questions, is being monitored and discouraged by the principal and one very difficult parent.
Every character in the story faces challenges that require them to reflect and grow as will the reader. Issues of privilege, climate change, and identity are seamlessly interwoven and as a cherry on top there is a very sweet first crush that will delight many readers, too.
Lukoff received a Newbery Honor for his ‘Too Bright to See’, but I’m rooting for this one for next year. A must-buy.

I struggled with the voice in this book. Annabelle is a sixth grader, but her narrative voice is that of a much, much younger kid combined with descriptors and adjectives that a child would never use ("aggrieved," for example). I really appreciate that Kyle Lukoff wanted to tell a story about trans parents and the tension between older trans folks and younger ones, and I think that story is absolutely worth telling. However, I don't think this book conveyed those perspectives successfully.

I went into this book with very high expectations, having really enjoyed “Too Bright to See.” I enjoyed some aspects of this book, like how supportive and engaged many of Annabelle’s classmates were, but I found many of the plot points entirely unrealistic to the point that I couldn’t really feel connected to the story.

I’m sure there are some families out there where the father was secretly the gestational parent and the child has no idea, and so I’m glad this book provided some representation for those families, but the way in which this information was presented to Annabelle felt almost sensationalized in a kind of icky way. The father character has a lot of growth throughout the book, and I appreciate how far he came in terms of unpacking his internalized transphobia by the end of the book, but his worldview was pretty upsetting and almost painful to read about for most of the book. The way he made Annabelle bring Bailey over to tell them his ~secret~ felt very weird and frankly something I would not feel comfortable with on either side. I kept wanting to yell at him to just be an adult and also have some faith in his kid (which he did end up start doing about 300 pages in).

I also found many of the interactions between Bailey and Annabelle very didactic, in a way that didn’t feel natural or particularly well written. Some concepts were explained very thoroughly (like why you shouldn’t ask people certain questions about their identity), and other concepts were just dropped into conversation with no explanation at all (like Julian saying that his sister says that disability justice is queer justice, or how Annabelle kept saying that “nothing is more than friends”--these concepts are not even necessarily complex, but they do warrant a moment of explanation).

I found much of this book pretty unpleasant to read given the outlandish behavior of many of the characters and the after-school-special-tone it took when discussing issues related to identity. That being said, I’m glad that this book was willing to tackle some pretty nuanced aspects of queerness and transness, and I’m sure a lot of readers will get a lot out of it and really connect to the characters.

This book was packed full of everything. As a book, I enjoyed it, and as an exploration of the LGBTQIA+ community it was wonderful. The only thing that slowed me down was just how much there was to absorb from it. That being said, the author did a wonderful job exploring it through the story as it comes up organically, vs. using the thin veneer of a story to info dump. I really enjoyed it, and will definitely be ordering it for our library collection.

As per his usual, Kyle Lukoff has written a unique middle grade novel that rings of authenticity. His characters draw you in, make you care and keep you wanting to read just one more page... one more chapter. I did not want to put it down. The characters are fully developed people, complex and with all the flaws of real people. The conflicts feel real and the characters respond in all the real, flawed ways that real people respond. Lukoff tackles issues of discrimination, social justice, climate change and more, all to prevalent in today's world, and shows how deeply these issues affect our middle grade children. How deeply our children want to have conversations about them. My students will relate to this book. I anticipate needing multiple copies.

In Different Kinds of Fruit, Annabelle Blake is beginning sixth grade in her small, suburban town where nothing ever changes. Enter a new student, Bailey, who has just moved to town from Seattle. Annabelle relishes Bailey's stories of city life and the new things Bailey and her family open up to her. Annabelle also begins to grapple with feelings that might be a first crush... could they be? When Annabelle discovers that Bailey and her father have something in common, her world is shaken to the core and she finds she has to revisit her ideas of who she is and what her family is. It is the start of a confusing but exciting journey for all involved.

Different Kinds of Fruit, by Kyle Lukoff, is the story of Annabelle and her friends in their 6th grade year. It focuses on Annabelle’s friendship with nonbinary Bailey, the new kid at school, as well as how Annabelle navigates the news that her dad is trans. The cast of characters is diverse and relatable -- the kind of kids I’d like to be friends with if I were back in 6th grade. Watching them mature and triumph through adversity made me want to stand up and cheer. The parents as supporting characters in the story are well-crafted and show a vulnerability and willingness to grow as adults that’s not seen often enough in children’s lit. The book examines what it means to belong to a community, and the diverse cast of characters fills a need in middle grade literature. Annabelle and her friends and family meet challenges with grace and courage, while learning to stand in their truth with strength, compassion, and self-acceptance. This book should be in every middle grade collection.