Kyle Lukoff Books In Order

Publication Order of Max and Friends Books

Publication Order of Mermaid Days Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Picture Books

Kyle Lukoff is an American children’s book author and a former Stonewall award winner. He has won the award twice so far for When Aidan Became a Brother and for Call Me Max. Lukoff also earned a Newberry honor and was a finalist for a National Book Award in the Young People’s Literature category.

Lukoff was born in Illinois and went on to attend Barnard College for University. He continued his education at Queens College where he earned his Master’s degree in library science. He went on to work as a school librarian for many years before leaving his job to focus on writing full-time.

Lukoff’s first book, A Storytelling of Ravens, was released in 2018.

A lot of Lukoff’s books center on transgender children. His book Call Me Max was the center of a controversy in 2021 when parents objected to it being read to a 4th grade class of students in Texas. The author found it upsetting that some people viewed his book as a problem and felt the school district was sending a message to all transgender people in the community–children, parents, teachers, friends–as well as their allies, that they were not welcome. The book also lead to a Utah school district canceling it’s book program after the book was read to a group of third grade students.

Too Bright to See was a Stonewall Book Award winning book, it also received a Newberry Honor. The story takes place in the summer before middle school as an eleven-year-old Bug and their best friend decide to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means picking out the right clothes and learning how to put on make-up. This doesn’t appeal to Bug as they don’t want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Plus, Bug has more important things to worry about: a ghost is haunting their house. Bug seeks to unravel the mystery of the ghost and learn what they are trying to say.

Different Kinds of Fruit follows Annabelle Blake who believes this school year will be the same as the others, but she is excited to find that there is a new kid in town. Bailey has moved in from Seattle and Annabelle wants to spend a lot of time with her. It helps that Bailey has a cute smile, nice hands, and smells good to her. Sixth grade is now much different than she’d imagined it would be. Then her father shares something that her and Bailey have something in common, and Bailey begins to see life in a whole new light. At the same time, she realizes that this community might not be as accepting as she once thought.

The Sunken Ship is the first book in the Mermaid Days series. This is part of Scholastic’s early reader line, Acorn, and is aimed at children who are just learning to read. The book focuses on mermaid Vera and octo-kid Beaker as the two go on adventures in their small town and explore a sunken ship.

Call Me Max is the first book in the Max and Friends series. The story begins as Max is beginning a new school and their teacher is hesitant to call out the name on the sheet while taking attendance. Max is quick to let her know the name that he wants to be called by, a boy’s name, Max. This is the beginning of Max’s journey as he makes new friends and tells his family about his feelings about his identity.