Jennifer Mathieu

This book is a narrative of baby's first feminism. If I had read this in high-school, I would've been so inspired and amped up. Being an adult who has studied feminism for years at this point, I still love it for the younger generation. I greatly appreciate that Mathieu included women of color and how easily white women and girls ignore intersectionality due to privilege. This book is definitely a top intro to feminism book.

THIS BOOK. I've been interested in this book for awhile because 1) Houston author 2) it involves Riot Grrrl and feminism 3) AMY POEHLER bought the movie rights 4) the hilariously missing the point review by Kirkus review & the 5) shitstorm that followed the review calling it out. So of course I jumped at the chance to read it in advance through Net Galley and I'm ready to gush about how great this book is.

In a small town in Texas the girls put up with a lot of sexist behavior from the boys show more and the administration doesn't do a thing about it. Vivian reaches her limit and wants to let the girls know that this isn't ok, but Viv is a bit of a shy girl that likes to go unnoticed, so inspired by her mom's Riot Grrrl past she creates a zine (NOT A NEWSLETTER!) called Moxie to call out the bullshit going on at her high school. The girls in her school respond to the zine and Moxie becomes more than the zine that Viv created, it becomes anything the girls need or want it to be that unites the girls.

What I really liked about Moxie is how Vivian is portrayed. She is like a lot of girls in high school and doing something that draws attention to her is really intimidating, but she finds a way to do so in her own way. Viv questions how involved she wants to get in her own creation, because she's scared of the consequences. I liked that the Riot Grrrl movement was included, critiqued, and built upon. Moxie is intersectional feminism, something that Riot Grrrl kind of dropped the ball on. As a fan of Riot Grrrl music, I would of liked more of the history and bands explored than Bikini Kill, but that is not the main focus of the book. Moxie also looks at high school relationships, Viv dates a boy that is new to her high school and is not like the other guys at her school, he isn't perfect and doesn't always understand why Viv is upset with how the school is and he doesn't always say the right thing, but he tries. That is an important theme in the book, the characters and the club are not perfect, but they are trying. show less

This book made me mad, and it made me sad, and it made me cheer. This book reminded me of how exciting it is to be a feminist. This book celebrates female relationships, and shows how powerful they can be. This book is not perfect, but it's pretty dang good, and it makes me look forward to more great novels by this talented author.

"This is what it means to be a feminist. Not a humanist or an equalist or whatever. But a feminist. It's not a bad word. After today it might be my favorite word. show more Because really all it is is girls supporting each other and wanting to be treated like human beings in a world that's always finding ways to tell them they're not." show less

YA FICTION
Jennifer Mathieu
Moxie: A Novel
Roaring Brook Press
Hardcover, 978-1-6267-2635-2, (also available as an e-book and on Audible), 336 pgs., $17.99
September 19, 2017

“Dutiful” Vivian is a junior at East Rockport High. She’s a “nice, normal” girl who tries to stay out of the spotlight, enduring another school year “like a long stretch of highway.” Vivian’s mom, Lisa, keeps a shoebox on the top shelf of her closet labeled “My Misspent Youth,” filled with old zines and show more photos of her Riot Grrrl days, punked-out in baby-doll dresses with combat boots, half her head shaved, “Riots not diets” inked down one arm. Lisa is a nurse now and wears lavender scrubs covered in butterflies, but when Vivian is upset, Lisa’s mementos of her youth comfort Vivian, even if she doesn’t yet understand why.

One day a boy interrupts a girl voicing her opinion in class one time too many with “Make me a sandwich” and something in Vivian ignites. She’s had enough of the humiliating dress code checks (while the boys wear T-shirts with “Great Legs—When Do They Open?” printed on them), the “bump ’n’ grab” in the hallways (the girls should take this assault and battery as “a compliment”), East Rockport’s “Most Fuckable” bracket posted online. Faced with inaction from the administration, Vivian creates Moxie, a zine for girls to educate, exhort, and inspire. Eventually threatened with suspension and expulsion, Vivian starts a movement that both scares and excites her.

Moxie: A Novel is new young adult fiction from Houston’s Jennifer Mathieu. Vivian’s fast-paced, first-person narration uncannily channels the sometimes insecure-and-anxious, sometimes righteous-and-incandescent, rapid-cycling emotions of teenagers (Vivian: “I am certain that I’m the first person on Earth to ever feel this awake and alive”). In the beginning her timidity is frustrating, but you’ll soon be fist-pumping and cheering her on. We care about the well-developed, relatable, sympathetic characters of East Rockport High, and we hope the entitled creeps get what’s coming to them.

Mathieu skillfully skewers Friday Night Lights culture; during the mandatory pep rallies, her characters “hide toward the back, like people who only go to church on Christmas.” Moxie is often funny. The local funeral home sports a sign that says, “Don’t text and drive. We can wait!”

Mathieu’s own interest in feminism was kindled by a high school teacher who once called her a “feminazi” during class, so “the joke is on you. Revenge is best served cold, you jerk,” she writes in the novel’s dedication. The Author’s Note at the end of the book includes a list of online resources and reading recommendations.

Kudos to Moxie’s design and marketing teams. The book jacket and interior style take a cue from Vivian’s creation, bringing the style of the zine alive for readers. The laudatory blurbs included with the advance review copy are all from girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite production company has acquired the film rights to Moxie.

Although a fun, quick read, Moxie challenges assumptions and divisions masquerading as tradition. It is an encouragement, a comfort, an inspiration, an education, and a call to action. Refuse to sublimate objectification; stake your claim.

moxiegirlsfightback.tumblr.com

Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life. show less