Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Pages: 326

Intended Audience: Mature Tweens & Teens

Genre: Contemporary / Social Issues

Notes for Parents: Contains coarse language and some sexual situations.

The Inside Cover

Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school where the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.

Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the’90s, so 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. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction in 2017.

What’s good?

Inspired by her mom’s youth, Viv cautiously steps up to bring attention to the injustices and inequalities she’s witnessing at school. She’s not looking to crush or humiliate anyone, just to make people aware of what’s happening and encourage them to speak out. A broad exploration of topics like rape culture, the boys-will-be-boys attitude, inequality, sexual harassment, and male privilege bring attention to real issues facing young women today. The plot is easy to understand and moves at a good pace. Character growth is exponential for most of the main players. There’s friendship, empowerment, some romance (but not enough to override the story), and a pretty amazing ending.

Best Part: The dedication – “For all the teenage women fighting the good fight. And for my twelfth-grade Current Topics teacher for calling me a feminazi in front of the entire class. You insulted me, but you also sparked my interest in feminism, so really, the joke is on you. Revenge is best served cold, you jerk.”

What isn’t good?

I hate to say it, but many of the scenarios seemed forced. I know these things really happen, but are adults really this complicit? Where are the female staff members who would be just as offended by the t-shirts as the female students? Why isn’t Viv’s mom or other parents more upset by the treatment of their daughters during the dress code incidents? It’s not just these female students who should be upset – it should be staff and parents, and at least a few boys!

Worst part: Nothing was terrible.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☻ (4/5)

So often feminism is considered a negative term. But this is what real feminism looks like – stand up, be brave, make yourself heard, speak the truth, support each other. Feminism means advocating for equal rights, equal treatment, and equal opportunities for men and women. This story is a small but great example of how it works, by using education and peaceful protest, rather than anger and violence. It was a great story, and I totally recommend it.

Mathieu, Jennifer. Moxie. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2017. (Hardcover)