MOXIE GIRLS FIGHT BACK!Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with a school administration at her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment, and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.Viv’s mom was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.Moxie is a book about high school life that will make you wanna riot!
Standalone
YA Contemporary
Roaring Book Press | September 19, 2017
Moxie was such an empowering YA book! I swear, this is a book all teenage girls should read! It’s all about standing up for yourself, and not taking shit from anyone just because you happen to be a girl. The way Jennifer Mathieu wrote it made me want to stand up and cheer! I definitely want my daughter to be a Moxie Girl.
I think what I really loved was, even though this is a book about feminism, it also covered not judging people harshly because they don’t understand. I really worried the author would take the story to the extreme, vilifying two of the characters for not being exactly what Viv thought a ‘good person’ should be. I think the idea of people having different life experiences, leading to differing opinions, should have been explored a little more, with more introspection from Viv. It was definitely discussed when it came to Viv’s own relationships, but I would have preferred if the story between Viv and her mom, about her mom’s love life, had been explored more.
Other than that, everything was pretty awesome! I loved how Viv’s courage came from the mindset of a Riot Girl. I thought it was awesome that she had to recognize how men can’t understand what it’s like to be a woman, because they don’t exist in a world that validates them as sexual beings first. However, their inability to ‘get it’ doesn’t automatically make them sexist. They can still be one of the ‘good ones’.
Even beyond the feminist message, Viv’s romance was just so adorable! I loved all of their sweet interactions, and I loved the progression the romance. They frustrated each other, annoyed each other, and then they made up. (Again, another book that highlights a healthy relationship. Love it!)
Ignore the romance talk though, because Moxie isn’t a love story. It’s a book about starting a revolution! I’m all about girls fighting back! (It was the reason I loved Lemonade Mouth, the movie!) I’m all about our youth raising their voices and being heard.
I want a future of strong women, so spread the word! Moxie Girls Fight Back!
Thank you to Roaring Book Press for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Birdie Bookworm 
Great review! I always love books on feminism. ☺
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Fantastic review Wendy! I love strong girls and you’re the third blogger gushing about this book! So on my TBR. Can I have a second life to read all the books that I have? LOL
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Hahaha! Right, like can I clone myself and still retain all clone’s memories?
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Oh yes that would do the trick too 😉
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I’ve just finished a really fascinating book on feminism and I’d love to read an empowering YA novel that reinforces feminist values 😀 Awesome review!
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Definitely check it out. It was awesome!
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Great review!
What ages would you recommend this book? I’d like my niece to read it!
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Hmmm… There’s some pretty heavy making out, but I’d let my daughter read it. She’s 13.
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Thanks! Same age as my niece. 🙂
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Great review! I can’t wait to read it! I was looking forward to it, and now that I keep hearing great things about it I REALLY need to gets my hands on a copy! 😁
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It was really good. A book all girls should read.
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Me too! Thanks!
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Yay, I was hoping this book would be as good as the blurb made it sound. It’s definitely my kind of book and the kind of book we need more of. Great review!
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Thanks! I hope you read it soon. 🙂
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