leahrosereads
Written on Mar 24, 2019
Obviously this story hit a little close to home. Please read it!
In a small Texas town where high school football reigns supreme, Viv, sixteen, starts a feminist revolution using anonymously-written zines.
- ISBN10 1626726345
- ISBN13 9781626726345
- Publish Date 19 September 2017
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint Roaring Brook Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 336
- Language English
Reviews
Obviously this story hit a little close to home. Please read it!
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
Written on Jan 11, 2019
I KNEW I was going to love this book, and I did. There's so much passion and truth in these pages, sometimes it was hard to remember it's just fiction. I fell in love with Viv and her group of girls, and then I got MAD. Mad about everything to do with East Rockport and her terrible high school where the teachers seems to have given up and the principal is totally okay with boys groping girls in the hall.
NO.
I love Vivian's anger and how she anonymously inspires so many people and when each individual girl finds strength to speak her truth and stand up for her rights and just EVERYTHING HERE. Jennifer Mathieu talks about intersectional feminism, about educating and not blaming, about not letting people be "set in their ways". I don't know if there's a SINGLE other YA book out there that talks about feminism, let alone a bunch of the sub-issues that go along with it.
As a contemporary... okay, it was a little light. Viv's life totally revolved around Moxie, so it was hard to separate her from the movement. But her friendships are wonderful and Seth is a genuinely good guy and I wish them all the best.
Can I give this more stars?
Sam@WLABB
Written on Feb 11, 2018
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
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girlinthepages
Written on Dec 21, 2017
Moxie focuses on protagonist Viv, who lives in small town in Texas and who has a rather unconventional upbringing for her community- she’s raised by a single mom and her mom used to be a Riot Grrrl in the ’90s (can we talk about how old it makes me feel like that YA protagonists are now often born after the year 2000???). She’s seen glimpses into her mom’s past life before becoming pregnant and widowed and returning to her small town, and those glimpses fuel a feminist fire in her to fight back against a lot of the sexist problems happening in her own high school. Viv’s journey is believable and riddled with moments of both doubt and empowerment, which I think would be realistic for any teenager standing up for the status quo in a community where change is extremely hard to enact. I especially loved how Viv chose to go with ‘zines as her core platform in the book, and I loved that we saw the hand drawn illustrations in the book as if hey had been xeroxed right in (I had to make a ‘zine for a group project in college and it’s seriously so empowering, and the book got the tone of the ‘zine and ‘zine making just right!)
One thing I greatly admired about Moxie is that it portrayed the challenges that each character had with coming to terms with feminism and event the obstacles they faced in their own families and relationships. Viv must balance her budding feminism with how to navigate her first real relationship with a boy. She has her friend Lucy who is ready to shout her activism from the rooftops, and her friend Claudia who is much more unsure and hesitant in making change and standing up for herself and others. Viv’s own family is a place where she must balance and navigate her feelings and expectations as well- her grandparents are very conservative and while her mom has her Riot Grrrl past, she begins dating someone very conservative which is a struggle for Viv because she thinks her mom is compromising some of her values for her romantic relationship. I love that Mathieu integrated how difficult and polarizing the mindsets and political views can be by different family members, and the tension it can cause- the personal is political, after all.
While I enjoyed the book overall, there were some parts that felt slow or that they dragged for me, which is why Moxie was a 4 star read for me. I honestly feel like it would have resonated more with me if I had read it in high school or early college, because it would have been more eye opening and explained a lot about feminism in an accessible and interesting way. Given that I spent a lot of time studying feminism and gender in college, I definitely appreciated this book but I feel like it will be so so so so important for those really starting to explore feminism for the first time or who are a bit younger. I definitely would want my future daughter to read this book and feel inspired and ask questions and overall start to realize why books and stories like this are necessary.
Overall: Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu is an important book that will hopefully create even more of a dialogue surrounding feminism in the YA community, especially for younger readers or those who aren’t familiar with some of the history surrounding the movement and some of the core foundations. Viv’s story was realistic, inspiring, frustrating, awkward, and all around authentic and I don’t think Mathieu could have done a better job navigating all of the teenage emotions wrapped into first stepping into a political and personal movement better than she did in this novel.
Joséphine
Written on Oct 13, 2017
Initial thoughts: If you're looking for a YA book which unapologetically champions feminist rights, Moxie needs to be on your radar. I really felt for the characters, and appreciated the nuances Mathieu teased out through conversation and plot progression. Jokes girls are often told to take in their stride, comments they're urged to shrug off, unequal treatment they're tasked to take in their stride — all these and more and dealt with head-on in Moxie.
Kelly
Written on Oct 11, 2017
In the small maritime southern town, the young women of East Rockport are exasperated by the contrasting principles enforced by the teaching facility. Blatant chauvinism and discrimination, young women withstanding abuse within the misogynistic environment. Sixteen year old Vivian Carter is appalled and inspired by the misspent youth of her mother, creating a feminist zine to empower young women.
Enduring blatant sexism and prejudice, institutionalised and commonplace within the small coastal community. Vivian is an exemplary young woman, compassionate, intelligent and captivated by her mother and her rambunctious youth where feminism redefined as intersectional feminism, the inclusion of multiracial, sexually and gender diverse alliances between women.
And it's not just one type of girl but all kinds. Jocks and loud girls and girls on the yearbook and quiet girls and black girls and white girls and brown girls.
Male athletes are immortalised by the East Rockport community, patriarchal masculinity unchallenged while young men wear sexist, sexually offensive slogans, ridiculing defamation and sexual assault. Unaccountable for their behaviour. Furthermore to feminist ideals and gender equality, the young women of East Rockport are sexually assaulted and considered entertainment, groped, molested and male behaviour absolved. Mitchell Wilson is a misogynistic chauvinist and absolutely infuriating.
Please remember that when you get dressed in the morning, you're coming to a learning environment, and we expect you to be dressed as a student, not a distraction.
Moxie is a clandestinely published feminist zine created to encourage the empowerment and solidarity of young women. Discovering feminism and gender equality is a journey, arising from chauvinism and prejudice. Friend Lucy is a passionate young woman who is outspoken and vehement while Claudia is restrained and hesitant, contrasting Latin American characters. Claudia's initial reluctance encouraged confronting but considerate discussions on what constitutes sexism. Love interest Seth Acosta participates in the promotion of Moxie principals but is a subdued advocate for gender equality. His character felt insignificant but I appreciated his support and encouragement of Vivian. The diversity of characters also includes multiracial and same sex female relationships.
Moxie promotes feminism, advocating for equality in a patriarchal dominated environment by challenging ideals, provoking discussion and igniting passion. Inspiring, vehement and confident.
Jo
Written on Oct 5, 2017
Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.
Trigger Warning: This book contains sexual assault and talks about rape.
I've been waiting to read Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu since I first heard about it months back. An ordinary teen girl bringing feminism to her school through zines? Just my kind of story! And I absolutely loved it!
This is a book I wish I had to read as a teenager. It's so full of passion and anger, but also action, and I definitely think it would have sparked my becoming a feminist a lot sooner. With Moxie along with Holly Bourne's The Spinster Club Trilogy, I would have been impassioned and ready to start my own club or something similar at school. Even now, as an adult, Moxie had me raring to do something and fix things, wishing I was still at school, so I could try and make a difference there. I can of course do things now as an adult, but Moxie had me thinking about school in particular, and I really just want to shove it into every teen girl's hands, and have them start their own school revolutions.
What I loved most about this book was that Viv was just an ordinary girl; a girl who was insecure, who had hang ups, who didn't like drawing attention to herself and preferred to go under the radar. In that sense, she reminded me a lot of myself when I was teen. And so it was wonderful to see this ordinary girl who isn't self-assured and full of confidence decide to try and change things at her school with her anonymous zine Moxie. I made me think that I could have done this, or any teenage girl could do it. You don't have to be super confident to realise things are screwed up and to decide to do something to change them.
That's another thing I loved about Moxie; it wasn't about Viv, it was about sexism. It was about taking a stand and trying to change the crap girls had to put up with at school; the popular boys saying, "Make me a sandwich," whenever a girl gave an opinion in class. The school's dress code spot checks where they would shame girls for the tightness of their clothing or how much skin was on show because it was distracting to the boys, and being made to cover up with ugly, over-sized gym sweatshirts or tracksuit bottoms. How the girls' soccer team was doing really well, but never got any real recognition for it, no funding, no new uniforms for decades. And so on. Moxie was about pointing out the how crap everything was to those who might not fully realise it, about girls not feeling so alone in feeling it was unfair, and about girls finding the courage to do something about it, supported by each other. With Moxie being anonymous - Viv coming into school early and leaving copies in the girls bathrooms before school started - Viv, as an girl with little confidence, could actually do something without necessarily drawing attention to herself. And at the same time, making it about every girl at the school. Moxie didn't belong to Viv, it belonged to all girls, and the girls would take up the banner of Moxie and start their own things, like a bake sale to raise money for the soccer team. I just loved that!
There was one moment towards the end where I felt very emotional, proud of all these young women and what they were fighting for, that they were willing to take risks to speak out against terrible things. And I was so, so mad at the teachers at their school. There's a part of me that wants to believe that this is just fiction, that teachers and head teachers/principles, people in authority, wouldn't treat girls as terribly as those in this book did, but at the same time, it worries me that it could be happening. Which makes me so, so glad this book exists. Because if teens read it and recognise the injustices within their school, recognise them being upheld by their teachers, they might just have the courage to do something about it, to tell someone, to get help elsewhere.
There was another element to this book that I really loved. There is a romance element to the story; Viv starts seeing new guy Seth. Although Seth isn't like the other guys at school, is a pretty decent, nice guy, and, when the talk about Moxie makes it's way around the school,is for the girls being treated better, he just doesn't always get it. He is the voice of "Not all men", and through him, I think guys can maybe start to understand that saying that not all guys are crap not only doesn't change the fact that there are guys who are crap even if they're not, it also derails the conversation, makes it less about the experience of girls and women and how they feel, and makes it about them, and how they would never do that. There is one conversation he has with Viv, where he doubts what someone says and they really fall out, and it just enraged me. It's something that's been said about a guy, and rather than thinking about the girl and her experience, he thinks about the guy. I don't want to spoil the story, so I won't say any more, but it just enraged me, because this is a conversation I have had many times before. In these situations, guys always seem to think about the guy and what this will mean for them, not about the girl. I think it was important to have a decent guy who isn't a complete dick, but a decent guy who does get it wrong, a decent guy who has to learn and understand that, when girls and women are talking about how they don't like the way they're being treated, he needs to shut up and listen - and then help. Although I didn't feel I really got to know Seth, as the romance isn't the focal point of the story, I think his character development is such an important part of the story. Because guys need to understand how crap things are for girls, and because of how Seth gets things wrong and learns, I think this book is also pretty good for guys to read, too.
There is just one negative for me. I felt that the various issues that were dealt with in the novel were kind of "blocky". By this I mean that the sexist issues had their time throughout the year, rather than things happening alongside each other. First there was the "Make me a sandwich" comments that first inspired Viv to make Moxie. Weeks passed, and then the school started up with their random dress code spot checks, which led to another issue of the zine. Then there was something else after another few weeks. It didn't feel realistic to me that these things were only happening at certain times of the school year. The "Make me a sandwich" comments happened year round, and so did a few other things that started later, but it just felt odd to me that everything wasn't happening all at the same time from the beginning. I think it would have felt more realistic if they were happening - or at least some of the things were happening - all the time, and it was as Viv worked on Moxie over time that she came to realise just how screwed up these things were, as she was thinking and learning about sexism. As it stands, it just felt a little too separate to me. But this is only a small quibble, and I loved the book as a whole.
Moxie is an incredible novel, one that will inspire and impassion anyone who reads it to become a Moxie girl and fight back.
shannonmiz
Written on Jul 22, 2017
I went into Moxie with incredibly high expectations. This is probably for a whole plethora of reasons:
1) Jennifer Mathieu's books have been some of my faves
2) You read the synopsis, right?
3) It's blurbed by Amy Freaking Poehler
4) This topic is so, so relevant and important
So yeah, that's a lot for this book to live up to, right? Maybe, but who cares because it did. It definitely lived up to my own hyped up expectations, and then some.
Here's the thing: It started being awesome before the story even began, and never, ever stopped. Even the damn dedication was bad-assedly on point. So instead of trying to be coherent and write actual human paragraphs, let's just do a list of all the awesome, okay?
- I was pissed off by page six. PAGE. SIX. Now, you're probably asking "why is this weirdo happy to be pissed off?", and I get it. But in the context, this book should be pissing you off. You should be goddamn outraged at the bullshit that young women face every single day. And guess who makes you exceptionally pissed on behalf of Vivian and her classmates? Jennifer Mathieu. You will be filled with all the rage. Whether you're mad because it happened to you, or to someone you know, or even just these characters, you will feel the empathy toward them. Your heart will hurt with these everyday injustices, because you know full well that they lead to so many more injustices.
- Speaking of, you will be mad because this is so freaking accurate. Women friends, raise your hands if you have ever been blatantly demeaned by a male teacher. If you've ever been called names by some douchey bully. If you've been subjected to stricter rules so that boys wouldn't be "distracted". If male activities and sports teams got more funding, more help than the female equivalents. I assume most, if not all of us are raising our hands. And that is why this book works: It is relatable to women as a whole.
- Vivian was such a normal teenage girl- full of fears and insecurities. Had she been totally game to stand up to this from the start, I'd never have believed it. She was mad, sure, but it took a lot of guts and soul searching for her to make a move. Even then, she went back and forth in her mind. I won't say more than that, but know that Vivian was presented as "every girl". She struggled with the same thoughts and fears that most of us have when standing up to an oppressive presence, and I appreciated her more for it.
- Girls coming together instead of tearing each other apart gives me life. Not saying that it was all sunshine and unicorns or whatever, but the overwhelming message of females empowering each other was present in this book. Fully, wholly present, with tons of little lessons along the way.
- It touches on other issues within the feminist movement, such as diversity and sexual orientation. I thought this was awesome! While I do wish it could have been even more, I do understand that to have focused on too many topics would have probably taken away from the focus. But I am super happy that it was acknowledged, and voiced firmly as an issue.
- The zines were incredible! I adored these! They were so cute, so creative, and a perfect little graphic break up! Plus, they worked so well in the story that it was really quite brilliant to add them in.
- There was a romance, and while I didn't care a ton about the romance per se, it did help with the story. First, it made Vivian's daily life probably more relatable, because she was focused on other things- friends, relationships, etc. Second, it helped to open the discussion with males about how the females were being treated, and I think that is incredibly important.
- Viv's relationship with her mom is a huge focus. Her mom's "Riot Grrrl" days serve as an impetus for Vivian's own Moxie Girls, so there is a lovely scene of a shared interest, even if Viv kept Moxie to herself. They were struggling a bit, trying to navigate new issues in their relationship, but ultimately, it was very clear that they cared deeply for each other.
Whew, so, I could keep going, but you get the general gist, yes? Get the book. You need it in your life.
Bottom Line: This is simply a perfect book for a young woman to read and realize that she's not alone. She can stand up for herself, too. She has a voice. She matters.