Zenobia July (Hardcover)

Staff Reviews
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. — From Leah's Picks (page 1)
Description
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.
About the Author
Lisa Bunker lives in Exeter, New Hampshire. Before taking up writing full time, she had a thirty-year career in public and community radio. In November of 2018, she was elected to represent her town in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. She is married and has two grown children. Her geekeries include chess, piano, gender, storycraft, and language.