Adrienne Kisner

i loved this. from beginning to end, it's engaging, funny, poignant, feminist. it's near perfect.

the framing of each chapter with the court cases was fun, and a nice way to let us know whose perspective the chapter was focusing on. (i did have a little trouble keeping track of who was talking a little, but that might have been audio-specific, or my own issue.) this whole book made me wish i'd done mock trial in high school. what fun.

raina learns about herself and discovers who she wants to show more be and who she is, how certain things (and people) have been holding her back. she gets to explore new ways to express herself and figure out what really motivates her. millie has to evaluate her self-view as a team player and realize that sometimes she has to do things for herself - and/or because it's the right thing to do - too. each of these characters grows and changes and learns about herself and the world around her. all with a call for caring about local elections in addition to national elections, and how much of a difference they make for people in your community. it's a super queer book with both good and incidental representation, which i wasn't expecting and is always such a nice surprise. i also loved the burgeoning feminism in the characters and the town's knit shop that helps bring people together over these issues. so good.

i do wish that at the end, especially in her second to last chapter whose chapter heading indicates this will happen, that millie really confronted her dad about his treatment of her. i'm glad she realized that she deserved better, and even that her mom left because he apparently wanted more of a servant than a partner, but she never told him how she felt. at least not that we got to see. she never got to say that she felt unseen as a person and only appreciated as someone to work for him but that he never did anything for her. we also never got to see that she better understood her mother. we did hear that she overheard their fighting, and it would have been good if she'd heard her mother complain about some of the same things that bothered her about her dad, and that this helped bring them together a bit by the end. that would have been nice, i think. that's basically my only complaint about this book.

excellent book, i loved it. show less

How is it that I have never heard of the Mock Trial Competition! We don't have it in NZ but I am still amazed that I knew nothing about this incredibly cool activity. When I was at school I would have lived and breathed a club like this. I have even mentioned it to a teacher at the school I work at and we are contemplating how we can make this happen. Mock Trial fan-girling aside.

I loved this book. It has a large eclectic cast of women and in my opinion the author struck a perfect balance show more between the wonderful voices. I laughed a lot during the knitting political activist group scenes. I mean seriously, knitting female genitalia and mailing them to people who express views that stop equality and inclusion in our society. Gold! Absolute gold! I read a lot about how needle activists have been around for a long time. Again, another very cool thing to learn more about. I might have to dust off my grandmother's knitting needles! Knitting activist fan-girling aside.

I totally recommend this quirky book with it's angry but endearing cast of women to anyone who loves reading books about female empowerment and love. The dialogue is quick and witty and I loved the feminist and LGBTQIA issues the book tackles with a strong clear voice. show less

Raina's senior year has shaped up quite perfectly. She has a handsome boyfriend of 5 years, Brandon, she is the president of the Drama Club, and all of her college applications have been submitted. That is until, Brandon suddenly breaks up with her. Raina is left reeling trying to make sense of it all. She tries to take up knitting, but when she finds her local yarn store (LYS) has been radicalized she wonders if knitting is for her.
Millie eats, lives, and breaths Mock Trial. She too is show more left lethargic when she is unceremoniously dumped by her love, the Mock Trial team. A chance conversation with Raina has convinced Millie to start an all-girl Mock Trial team, but will they have what it takes to beat the all-boy team and make it to Nationals?
Kisner has written a book that I wish was around when I was a teenager; a book full of strong, yet realistically human young women. This book breaks down stereotypes of high school girls and replaces it with intelligent and critically thinking young women. I look forward to recommending this book to teens - and adults - and hope it inspires them to forge their own path. show less

"But being a girl is also what happens after all that. It’s in how you stand up to all that stuff that’s thrown at you and how you kick ass after.”

-5 stars-

Tropes:
-Bad girls
-Smashing the patriarchy
-Feminists!
-Revenge against boys
-Girls kick butt

Oh my, how I enjoyed this!
Six Angry Girls literally made me grin with delight! The book is told through two different girls perspectives; Millie and Raina.
Raina's just gotten dumbed by her boyfriend, and Millie has just gotten kicked off the show more mock trial team, that she basically runs. The book is basically about a group of six girls that form a mock trial team to get back at all the other people that have hurt them, and that they want to prove something to.
Raina was by far my favorite of the six girls! I love the way she joined a group of old women that knit to "get over heartbreak". The humor/comedy of the book honestly made me smile.
I love the strong sense of feminism and friendship in here. Not going to lie, this book kind of made me want to make my own Six Angry Girls mock trial team! Haha!
I don't want to say too much, because otherwise I'm going to give the story away! All I can say is that this book was an absolute delight to read, and made me so so happy to be a girl!

“Here's what I'm recommending—a long, flat scarf. Great project to start, easy to correct mistakes, useful in the Pennsylvania winter, thoughtful gift, and can be used to choke someone. Perfect both practically and metaphorically.” show less