The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag

In thirteen-year-old Aster's family, all the girls are raised to be witches, while boys grow up to be shapeshifters. Anyone who dares cross those lines is exiled. Unfortunately for Aster, he still hasn't shifted . . . and he's still fascinated by witchery, no matter how forbidden it might be.

Loved everything about this one. You can tell Molly Knox Ostertag put a lot of herself into this one. Great concept and great execution. So excited this is a series!

This is a great way to question arbitrary gender norms, especially for middle grade readers. I loved the use of different types of magic to separate men and women. So many things in our lives are gender coded: dolls vs. trucks, pink vs. blue, skirts vs. pants, softball vs. baseball, etc. There's no real reason why people can't play, wear, or do whatever they want. Aster's story shows that it can be harmful to deny children their interests just because of their gender. And parents don't have to understand it to love and care for their children as they are.

A wonderful story of a boy who is not like other boys.

Don't try to force people into roles. It's not one's gender or ethnicity or religion or political opinions, sexuality, anything like that, that says what they are good at, what they are meant to do - if you force all girls to become pretty little housewives, you will end up with a lot of unhappy, miserable and pretty bad housewives, and you will lose a lot of talents and resources.