Rebel Girls

September 1, 2019

Gr 8 Up-Athena Graves has the heart of a feminist and a soul full of riot grrrl, which guide her as she navigates her sophomore year at a Catholic high school in Baton Rouge, LA. Things are going well when her friend Melissa gets her a fake ID so she can get into 18+ shows and a cute boy with the right badges on his backpack starts paying attention to her. Then Athena's sister, Helen, an aspiring model and pro-life club member, becomes the subject of rumors saying she had an abortion over the summer. Athena and Helen band together, as well as Melissa and two of Helen's friends, to make protest patches and buttons that are ambiguous enough to stay within school policy. When that doesn't have the desired effect, they strive to make more of a statement. The early chapters relentlessly name-drop bands that were around in 1992, mainly to establish that the book is set in that year, despite the fact that today's teens are unlikely to recognize many of them. Stock characters fill most roles, all of whom start and end this politically charged story with the same viewpoints. Athena handles her relationships with sufficient complexity, but politically she just says the term "riot grrrl" a lot, rather than exemplifying, or even struggling with, its principles. Though she asks "What would Kathleen Hanna do?" her answers are often superficial. Despite a tidy ending, the show of perseverance when one's beliefs are unpopular is a strength. VERDICT Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie will better scratch your riot grrrl itch.-Alex Graves, Manchester City Library, NH

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2019
Word in Baton Rouge is that Athena Graves' younger sister got an abortion over the summer. Named after powerful women in Greek mythology, the Graves sisters could not be more different. Athena is a gifted student with dyed red hair and a love for punk-rock music. Helen, a blonde beauty, loves fashion and Pearl Jam--a band Athena deems so mainstream. Helen's anti-abortion stance makes her a better fit for their Catholic high school than aspiring riot grrrl Athena. But when a rumor spreads that Helen got an abortion after sleeping with a racist classmate, Athena, with the help of fellow abortion-rights advocate Melissa, works to save Helen from being expelled. Athena believes mean girl Leah started the rumor, but Leah's football-star boyfriend, Sean, comes to her defense. And soon after Athena starts dating cute Kyle, Leah sets her sights on him too. Sympathetic Athena honestly struggles to get justice for her sister while upholding her core beliefs in the face of a strongly conservative community. Beyond the abortion debate, this provides a necessary focus on the importance of young women supporting one another across differences. Echoing the punk-rock feminist movement of the early '90s, debut author Keenan creates a timely narrative that will challenge teens to reflect on their personal values and engage in respectful discourse. Main characters are white apart from Melissa, who is half Vietnamese and half Cajun, and Sean, who is black. A must-read. (Fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.