Let’s face it: some days, the news is just so overwhelmingly unbearable and unfair that you kind of really would like to burn the patriarchy down. No matter what issue, what current climate, there always seem to be forces working against you. In those moments of helplessness and frustration, it is great to read about someone who’s been in your shoes, who has faced the impossible, the insurmountable and came out on the other side, stronger than ever. So here are a few recommendations that will keep you on your toes, reinvigorate your ambition, and encourage you to keep the fight for a better world going, one step at a time!
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
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“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. 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.”
Vivian Carter is fed up – from living in a small town where everyone thinks the football team is untouchable to the sexist dress codes and harassment in the hallways that no one seems to be able to change. When she is once again chastised for breaking the anti-feminist rules of her school, Viv decides to fight back. Taking a page from her mother’s past, Viv creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. What starts out as a way to blow off steam turns into fast friendships as girls all over the school band together to fight for their rights, solidifying the fact that there is nothing more powerful than girls supporting girls.
The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven
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“I get why he’s lashing out. As a privileged white dude, he’s used to being able to buy whatever he wants. He lives in a country where even the presidency can be bought.
But he can’t buy my love. And that frustrates the hell out of him.”
Faced with a sex scandal of epic proportions, Izzy O’Neill becomes fed up with the double standards that exist for girls and boys – whereas she is publicly shamed and called out for being promiscuous, the guy she slept with is the hero who can do no wrong, receives high fives at every turn and is the conqueror of the whole school. Not to mention she’s dealing with her best friend who keeps begging her to let him out of the friendzone. Izzy decides enough is enough and together with her friends, fights back against the people who decide what a girl should be and how she should behave.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
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“That’s the problem. We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us. What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”
From a young age, Starr Carter has been instructed on the double standards that exist for black people. Be silent, be docile, don’t do anything rash. Keep your head down and don’t make a fuss. When Starr witnesses her friend getting shot by a police officer for no reason, Starr is inconsolable. But above all, she is angry. Angry at the injustice, angry that Khalil had to die for no reason, angry that the police officer is facing no charges. Starr has to ask herself – what good does it do to keep quiet when she could actually change things for the better?
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
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“I wondered, for the very first time, if maybe I was doing this whole thing wrong. If maybe I’d allowed myself to be blinded by my own anger to the exclusion of all else. If maybe, just maybe, I’d been so determined not to be stereotyped that I’d begun to stereotype everyone around me.”
One year after 9/11, sixteen-year-old Shirin is tired of being stereotyped because she is a Muslim girl. Never surprised by the rude and demeaning attitude of others, Shirin has learned to shut out everyone and everything that might make her feel bad for her religion or wearing her hijab. Until Ocean James shows up and wants to get to know her – who sees the girl who break-dances and loves music and maybe, just maybe, the one who will get behind the protective walls she has built up. Brick by brick, Shirin realizes that not feeding into stereotypes is a tough choice – but changing who you are, how you act just to not be labeled by others is something no one should ever have to do. And finding yourself underneath what others tell you you are might be her toughest challenge yet.
Foul Is Fair by Hannah Capin
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“Sweet sixteen is when the claws come out.”
After a birthday that should have been sweet but ended up being the worst night of her life, Jade decides to get revenge on the golden boys of St. Andrew’s Prep that tried to crush her and failed. Together with her fearless friends and the perfect disguise, Jade infiltrates the untouchable circle of the golden boys and takes back the power on a journey of revenge that will leave no survivors. Fed up with the injustice, Jade becomes larger than life and vows: something wicked this way comes.
What Kind of Girl by Alyssa Sheinmel
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“Doing something when you’re scared is braver than doing something when you’re not.”
When Mike Parker’s girlfriend shows up with a bruise at school, everyone at North Bay Academy is taking sides. After all, what kind of girl would go to the principal instead of the police? And what girl would stay with her abusive boyfriend instead of leaving him? Divided by the issue of how much abuse society inflicts upon women and how much more they endure even when coming forward, there needs to be a reckoning: why ask what kind of girl stays instead of what kind of guy hurts her?
