‘Dear Mothman’: A middle-grade LGBT book everyone should read, regardless of age

Recently I had the pleasure of reading the book Dear Mothman by Robin Gow. This is a middle grade book about Noah, an autistic, closeted transgender boy in sixth grade who recently lost his best friend to a tragic accident. In the book, he deals with the loss by writing letters to Mothman, who was the pair of kids’ favorite cryptid.

I’ve been searching for more queer-centric novels to read recently, and this one really hit the spot. Yes, the book is geared more towards younger readers, but it was recommended to me by my library coworker, so it only felt right to give it a chance.

Artistic Achievement: Robin Gow, who goes by it/fae/he pronouns, carefully crafts its words within the pages to give clear images as to what is going on at any given moment at any given time in the book. I was able to perfectly envision the scenarios thanks to faer craftsmanship.

Pacing: The pacing of the book was perfect for a middle grade book. I read it in audio form, and the whole thing was maybe a little over five hours from start to finish. It never left me bored and I was on the edge of my seat nearly the entire time.

Characters: Noah, the main character, was fully fleshed out from the very start of the novel. It amazed me as well how fleshed out his best friend was, given that he wasn’t in the story at all besides being mentioned by Noah in past tense. The side characters were also well done.

Writing Style: The writing style was easy to understand and to follow, which is always a big thing for me. Of course, this could be because the book was written for younger audiences, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Originality: Incredibly original content! Who else could’ve possibly thought up a story about an autistic transgender child writing letters to a cryptid to cope with the death of a best friend? I don’t know, seems original to me.

I finished reading this book on July 24th, 2023.