Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
(Format used for this read: Print–paperback)
Yall have heard me sing the praises for my sister in law, Melinda, before. Her and I are kindred bookworm spirits and she ALWAYS ALWAYS gives me EXCELLENT book recs.
She NEVER lets me down with her picks, yall. It’s kinda unbelievable!
She mailed this to me awhile ago and I can’t believe I am JUST now getting around to reading.
Full up honesty…..my TBR pile on my bookshelf is so large it got lost in the mix 🤦♀️
I am SO happy it popped back into my eyesight this week.
I finished reading this gem in two days.
I knew this was my kind of book as soon as I read the dedication page:
YAAASSS, girl. Tell that misogynist fool what’s UP. 🙌
Here is the official summary of this book:
“MOXIE GIRLS FIGHT BACK!
Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with an administration at her high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment, and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.
Viv’s mom was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.
Moxie is a book about high school life that will make you wanna riot!”
I know this book was written for teenagers…and I DEFINITELY think teens should read this, ESPECIALLY females….but as a grown up woman who has recently reclaimed her feminist ideals in the past few years, I really liked reading this book.
It is empowering, informative and badass while at the same time is cute, funny and sweet.
It is an easy, fast read but packs a very big punch.
This book has all the “teenager-y” things that YA books all have—romance, high school stereotypes, friendship drama, family struggles–all spoken in modern “teenager-y” speak.
Which obviously at my 41 years of age doesn’t really relate to me so much 🤣
But
this book really is soooooo much more than all that.
Alongside the typical YA happenings, there is a MUCH bigger statement and a bigger purpose at hand in the words and story of this book.
This is a message of female liberation…of fighting the patriarchy…of standing up for what is right….of coming together with others in unity…of refusing to stay quiet or silent and USING YOUR VOICE….of giving a big “F.U” to gender biased rules and expectations and the people who enforce them.
It doesn’t only encourage teens to fight the good fight…it also encourages grown ass adults to WAKE THE HELL UP….and KEEP ON fighting that fight…to not get complacent or complicit.
This isn’t just for girls to read either….I absolutely and completely think teen BOYS should pick this book up….they are SO indoctrinated in toxic masculinity from BIRTH and really need to listen, learn and join the journey of creating a better world for EVERYONE.
This book reminded me of ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the work there remains to be done in smashing the effing patriarchy.
Read it…and when you’re done, pass it along to a teenager you know and love.