When the Moon Was Ours

Miel & Sam are outsiders, terrifyingly strange and inseparable. Miel grows flowers from her wrists. Nobody knows where she came from, she just fell out of the water tower one night. Sam was born in Pakistan. He paints moons & hangs them in the forest because Miel is afraid of the dark. Only Miel knows he was born once-upon a-time as a girl. Their friendship turns to romance while Miel’s magic makes her the target of other girls who are hungry to take her power for their own. 

This young adulthood fantasy novel has echoes of the legend of La Llorona but also navigates love and identity, inspired by McLemore’s own relationship with her husband, who is transgender. “As teens, we feel the growing weight of questions we’ve held in our hands since we were children,” McLemore writes in her author’s note. During a time when any mention of teen queerness or sexuality seems to be under attack from the far-right, it is such a relief to have a book that gives space to ask questions. 

Give this novel to your teenager if they like romance & magic. Likewise, read this novel yourself with a cup of hot cocoa under a full moon while you break your own heart again with the memory of your first love. —E.H., Mother Jones