Language: PG (2 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G (kisses, hand holding); Violence: G (Peril - lost in the woods, sighting a cryptid)
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
12yo Noah's best friend Lewis has died. Lewis was also a trans boy, and the two had been fast friends for years - only coming out to each other. Now Noah feels alone and writes notes to Mothman - a cryptid Lewis believed in, and now Noah does too. In fact, as a tribute to Lewis, Noah is planning to make "the existence of Mothman" his 6th grade science fair project.
Dear Mothman is a novel in verse, but I feel the style made it choppy, and hard to connect with Noah. There's also so much going on! Noah is trans and comes out to various people throughout the book, he's also grieving, and autistic. Told through Noah's letters to Mothman (mostly, there are also a few letters to Noah from Hannah his girlfriend); Noah's autism is mentioned, but there's not a lot of context other than the fact that he meets with a counselor - which could be for grief counseling. There's a bit of magical realism as the children see signs of and possibly the cryptid itself. Noah defaults white, is on the autism spectrum, and identifies male.
Lisa Librarian
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