Genre: Realistic Fiction
# of Pages: 360 p.
Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends who attend a very liberal arts minded school where every student must join an after school club. Jasmine is in the theater club, but quickly realizes that she will only be considered for certain parts due to her race and body type. Chelsea, meanwhile, is in the poetry club but quits after it becomes clear that the teacher moderator is only interested in the classics, which in her opinion are old white men. They end up deciding to create their own club called Write Like a Girl, which begins with a blog where they can write poems, post artwork, and feature women artists of all backgrounds. There are some who object to the content early on and believe they are being too sensitive, but they push on to get their point across that they are at a daily disadvantage due to gender, race, body type, age, etc. As they continue to find projects to express themselves they realize that there are plenty of women out there who also want their voices to be heard. Unfortunately, the school administration does not want there to be any “incidents” that “instigate” trouble at school and threaten to ban their club. How will Jasmine and Chelsea react to yet another group trying to silence their voices? How do their families feel about their activist (or artivist) movements? How do they balance all of these feelings and actions with the very real struggles that face them in their day to day lives?
This story is inspiring from the very beginning. The way it is written the reader can easily see why the best friends would be so frustrated in their situation while at the same time the people who have all the power in their lives believe they are overreacting. This book is very timely as there are many events that have happened this year that have really shown us all how certain people do not have the same voice in society due to race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, and so on. Many people have been operating under the assumption that everyone in society has equal rights and that those rights have come a long way from where we were 50 years ago, but it’s apparent now that we still have a long way to go. I also really liked how the characters stressed the importance of art in a variety of formats for truly making change and for helping them cope with their feelings and life events. So often, writing, poetry, theater, and art are overlooked in schools and these forms of expression can be invaluable to students who need ways to share their voices and experiences. There’s a lot to absorb in this story and many readers will find that it is wroth a second or third read. Highly recommended.
Young Adult Book Reviews 