Every day that you get up and force your cards: MOXIE.

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Vivian Carter is known for being the dutiful kid. Her mom was a feminist and had a rebellious side in high school; she couldn't wait to get out of their small-minded town. But after Vivian's dad died when she was a baby, they came back to town so her mom could raise her next door to her grandparents. But then Viv starts to get fed up with the misogyny of her football-focused school, where the principal, the teachers, and even the kids seem to only care about football. The football players can get away with anything--including harassment. The school budget is focused on one thing: football. Viv finds inspiration in her Mom's punk rock past, creating an anonymous feminist zine, "Moxie," that she circulates around the school. It takes a little while, but soon Viv is creating friendships with different kids. And suddenly, it seems like the girls of Moxie are banding together way beyond anything football can do.



"I'm a girl who studies for tests. I'm a girl who turns in homework on time. I'm a girl who tells her grandparents she'll be over in five minutes and shows up in three. I'm a girl who doesn't cause a fuss. I even shrink into my desk when a teacher calls on me in class. I'm a girl who would prefer to evaporate into the ether rather than draw even positive attention to herself."


This book has been on my shelf for a little while; I'd bought it as I'd heard good things. I'm working on my self-imposed #readwhatyouown challenge this year, and once I heard that Amy Poehler was going to direct an adaption of this one at Netflix, I figured it was a good time to pick it up.

MOXIE was a slow starter, but turned into a really rousing, empowering read, and I'm excited to see how it translates to the screen. It's incredibly timely and also very terrifying. The more I read it, the more horrified I was that this was reality for females in high school. So much of what Mathieu describes you know happens, but as a parent of two young girls, it's just awful to read about all these kids endure.

There's almost two plot lines in this one--the feminist saga of Moxie and a romance featuring Vivian and another boy at school. I've seen some complaints that the romance detracted from the overall plot, but I actually enjoyed it. Vivian even worries that she is distracting herself from Moxie, at times, because of her relationship. The romance also provides some comedic moments and humanizes Vivian, making her seem more like a real teen. She's a great character, and I really like her.

Overall, even though this was a little slow to begin, I really enjoyed it. It's very YA, if that makes any sense--it's a great book to have on the shelves of all high schools. I would rate it as a 3.5-star read, but I'm bumping it up to 4-stars, because it makes you laugh, cheer, and nearly cry. You'll also fall for the characters, especially Vivian and her friends. I'm looking forward to see how Poehler and crew bring this to Netflix.

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Google+ ~ Instagram ~ Smashbomb



View all my reviews