Designed to empower, the novel occasionally fails to consider that changing a culture of misogyny requires educating and...
Fed up by her high school’s culture of misogyny, Vivian leads a feminist rebellion.
Staff at Vivian’s school conveniently overlook the demeaning remarks football players and their friends direct at girls, the ongoing hallway sexual harassment of “bump ’n’ grab,” and the annual tournament to identify the “most fuckable” girl on campus. Enraged by the toxic environment, and inspired by 1990s Riot Grrrl culture, Vivian creates an anonymous zine—Moxie—to empower girls. Some of Vivian’s protest ideas are inspired, as when girls wear bathrobes to protest the unfair enforcement of the school’s dress code. Soon Moxie supports such additional projects as girls’ soccer fundraisers, successfully strengthening the school’s sisterhood. But there are troubling moments when Vivian excludes willing male participants, seemingly suggesting that achieving female empowerment requires gender separation. And Moxie moves dangerously toward vigilante justice when it’s used to accuse a student of attempted rape. Vivian’s incensed reaction when her boyfriend suggests the anonymous accuser might be lying ignores the American judicial system’s core tenet of due process. Further, the novel fails to educate readers that qualified police investigators, not school officials, must be alerted in accusations of criminal behaviors.
Designed to empower, the novel occasionally fails to consider that changing a culture of misogyny requires educating and embracing support from members of all genders. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62672-635-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Highlights with painful honesty the process of moving forward following trauma.
In this follow-up to 2016’s The Way I Used To Be, a high school senior comes to understand that surviving rape is only the first part; what comes next is hard, too.
Eden is learning how to live after coming forward and publicly naming her rapist following three years of self-loathing and destructive behavior. In counseling, she’s working to understand who she is now, while also maintaining relationships with friends who don’t know what happened and family members who are dealing with guilt and anger in their own ways. Others’ reactions often leave Eden feeling like her honesty was more burdensome than helpful. She awaits the trial and reconnects with Josh, the boy she loved even when she couldn’t love herself and the only person outside her family who knew the truth. While Eden and Josh want love to be enough, both come with emotional baggage that must be dealt with before they can truly give themselves to each other. This emotional story about learning to take back control explores the fraught journey back to self for survivors and those who love them most. It is well paced and well executed and effectively shows how the legal system can make victims feel pressured and lonely. Readers need to be familiar with the first volume to fully understand this one. Main characters are cued white.
Highlights with painful honesty the process of moving forward following trauma. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781665947107
Page Count: 432
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With Texas-sized heart and cinematic action, this magical fantasy is a crowd pleaser.
Two magicians facing off in a competition discover the strengths—and dangers—of their powers that are amplified as a result of their attraction.
It’s finally time for Nigel Barrett, a Texan cowboy with elf magic, to participate in the Culling, a tournament in which thousands of 18-year-old magicians—descendants of elves, fae, goblins, nymphs, and sprites—will be whittled down. The best of the best will join the Guild and fight the Depraved, while the rest will be stripped of their powers. When bighearted Nigel encounters Orion Olson during his first trial, he feels a connection, but prickly Ori is not here to make friends. The boys soon realize that being together boosts their powers, but what at first seems like remarkable magic ends up coming with a giant helping of risk. This captivating story with propulsive action features nuanced characterizations of its white leads and racially diverse secondary characters. It sets itself apart from others in the genre by its original worldbuilding, particularly its version of how demons are formed by human hate and cruelty. Fighting them with love-based magic could easily have seemed too twee, but the story works due to its increasingly heavy stakes and surprising turns. The fact that queer love is what is so powerful makes this story especially affirming and noteworthy. The ending enticingly sets readers up for a sequel.
With Texas-sized heart and cinematic action, this magical fantasy is a crowd pleaser. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781368089234
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Melissa de la Cruz Studio
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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