Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

A young boy imagines himself transforming into a mermaid.

This book contains depictions of alternate gender ideologies.

What inspired you to create Julián is a Mermaid?

"I have a friend who transitioned later on in his life, and I was deeply moved by his story, and his courage. He lives in sort of rural Pennsylvania and the reaction of his community was...mixed. It made my heart heavy that he'd felt he had to wait so long to be himself, and it made me wonder what kinds of books there were for kids on the subject. I simultaneously became interested in drag, I started watching Ru Paul's Drag Race, and went down a Paris is Burning rabbit hole. I was interested in how an early encounter with an ecstatic, communal self-love might impact a young person discovering who they might be. I wondered if I could create that encounter in a book."