Luna is a young adult novel, by Julie Anne Peters, and was first published in 2004.
Plot summary
Luna follows the life of sixteen-year-old Regan as she keeps the secret of her older sister Luna's transgender identity. During the day, Luna pretends to be an average senior boy named Liam. But at night, Luna is allowed to be her true self: Lia Marie, a girl. Later, she changes her female name to Luna, which means "moon", to reflect that her true identity could only be seen at night. After years of ‘transforming’ only at night, Luna confides in her sister that she wants to transition into a full-time female. Luna asks Regan to help her with her transitioning and, although she agrees, she finds herself worried about Luna and her safety. The novel follows Regan as she makes sense of her sister's decision.
Other problems arise for Regan as she is attending high school. She spends most of her life avoiding other students, in fear of letting the secret slip. But a new boy at school, Chris, becomes interested in her. Although Regan enjoys attention from Chris, she draws away from him, choosing to stay focused on Luna.
As Luna is coming out more, her father starts to notice differences in his child and tries to push a more masculine role onto Luna. Regan's father confides in her that he believes Luna is gay. Meanwhile, their mother remains oblivious to the rising tension in the household. Consumed by the workload of her wedding planning business, the mother is constantly out of the house and distant from her family.
Despite the tensions and the negativity weighing on her choice, Luna fights for her right to be the person she feels that she was meant to be. Alongside her, Regan learns to stand her ground, to think more of herself, and discovers the person she wants to be.
Characters
Regan: The story is told from Regan's point of view. She is a 16-year-old sophomore in high school. She avoids other students in order to keep her "brother's" secret of being transgender, but holds a babysitting job with a neighboring family. She's a fan of Opera. When her "brother" decides to fully transition into a female, Regan supports her despite growing fears. At the same time, a new student named Chris takes an interest in her and despite keeping herself distant, Regan finds herself attracted to him.
Liam/Luna: Liam is an attractive senior in high school and the "brother" of Regan. During the day, she is a mild mannered student and computer programmer/builder. She runs a small business with her best friend Aly. However, she identifies as female and at night, dresses as her true self, a girl named "Lia Marie". At the beginning of the story, Liam changes her female name to Luna to reflect how she can only transition at night. As the story progresses, Liam comes to the decision of wanting to transition and starts to dress in public as Luna. With her sister as support, Luna makes the decision to transition and be the person she was truly meant to be.
Chris: Chris is a new student at Liam and Regan's high school. Regan first meets him in chemistry class and they become lab partners. Although he's new, he makes it onto the baseball team and becomes popular. Chris starts to like Regan although she isn't the most popular and distances herself from him. He tries to get to know Regan and date her which causes a conflict of interest within Regan.
Aly: Aly is Liam's best friend. Although they are close friends, Aly does not know Liam's secret and secretly wishes they were together. She works with Liam with computers and also hangs out with Regan. When Aly first discovers Liam's secret, she is mad and avoids Liam and Regan, but eventually comes to terms with it.
Jack (Dad): The father of Regan and Liam, Jack, works as a salesman at Sears. He has a set idea that men are supposed to be masculine while girls are meant to be feminine. Although he loves his children, he finds Liam's lack of athletic participation and other 'masculine' activities strange and thinks that his "son" may be homosexual. He doesn't understand the concept of transgender people and gets angry when Luna tries to tell him that, although born a boy, she was meant to be a girl.