Reviews

Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff

amylia's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

butteredgarbage's review

emotional inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

autumnxrose's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bibliobrandie's review

5.0

This book is perfection. I loved every bit of it and would love it to be a classroom read or an all school read. Lukoff brings up so many questions that students have and then answers them in the most perfect way. When Bailey shares that their pronouns are they/them, the teacher's response is perfect (and one that I plan to use!). When a student asks "Is there a white history month or a men's history month," the teacher responds: "Are you worried that you don't know enough about men? Or about white people? Are you having a hard time finding white people or men in the books that you read? Movies you watch? Or video games you play?" In another conversation a student says "Freedom of speech is not the same thing as freedom to be listened to." I literally could have underlined all the words of wisdom in this book. But beyond that, these are incredible characters that you love and root for, and the story is very compelling. Strong LGBTQ representation. I think students are going to love this important novel.

hetellama83's review

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

jstark545's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was a really big fan of this book, it was interesting reading about a trans father, and seeing him struggle on how to be himself.

dealingwithdragons's review

funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

236girls's review

emotional hopeful informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

SOOO good i wish i was as half as cool and informed as annabelle and bailey when i was in sixth grade!!! actually learned a lot about fruit from this + bunch of random fun facts. very fun and wholesome i loved everyone so much and how much they progressed in this book! kyle lukoff u r a gift to modern middle grade literature god bless

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia

lydarlo's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this book as an out Trans 25 year old. Had I had this book growing up it would have been life altering in the best way. The transmedicalism views expressed at the beginning of the book enraged me but this book displays some of the best character development I have read. ♥️

bickie's review

I loved the nuances of Annabelle's family's experience, her experiences with Bailey, and her own questioning and wondering. I also appreciated the exploration of school administrators' talking about inclusion and safe spaces while making decisions that do the opposite. The students' activism provided some models for how to take action, and with the exception of Dixon, the kids all seemed to be pretty respectful and caring toward one another.

I think this book will appeal to several of my students if they can get past the slow start. I almost DNF due to the voice of the narrator, who is starting 6th grade but sometimes sounds a bit off. I didn't find that this book had the easy flowing grace of Too Bright to See.

Spoiler

Although it is included to show how Annabelle learns and overcomes prejudice/old opinions, I found myself cringing at her description of the other Annabelle early on in the book. I imagined some of my students reading that and seeing themselves in the other Annabelle and being hurt by it. While the other Annabelle ends up being pretty cool, it takes a while, and I wish the description had been a little less hurtful.

I was also a little uncomfortable with Annabelle's following in her mom's footsteps and her mom's saying that some of her "fabulousness" definitely rubbed off on Annabelle. It felt like it played into the anti-LGBTQ+ narrative that LGBTQ+ adoptive parents will turn their children gay.