Winston, Sherri - The Kayla Chronicles
Kayla Dean and her best friend Rosalie have been ardent feminists for a while now, thanks to the influence of Rosalie's mom (Dr. X) and Kayla's now-deceased Grandma JoJo. Now, Rosalie wants Kayla to try out for the school's dance/cheerleader team, the Lady Lions, and write an expose on how the Lions discriminate against girls with "itty-bitty titties."
This is a very small book, and I had to be in the right mood to feel up to Kayla's voice, which is snappy and slangy and very fun. I was a little irritated that the main plot is mostly "Oh, I can be feminist and wear heels too!" as I felt the nuances of social expectations and gender roles and etc. weren't fully explored, and that the book took the easy way out with Rosalie's hardcore, "you're not a feminist unless you're like me" line.
I suspect a lot of this is just that I'm at the wrong age and place for the message and the book; I may have enjoyed it much more when I was reading tons of fantasy books featuring tomboys with swords as good and embroidering girly girls as simpering, evil, and cruel.
Still, it's a very fun book, and I laughed my way through it. It takes on romance, dance, family, and friendship, and while I think it could have taken more time with some of the issues, it's also possible that too many pages would have weighed it down as well. Also, I'm really enjoying this trend of YA novels for girls that star girls of color and make race an aspect of their lives, but not the main issue.
I'll be really interested to see what Winston writes next.
Links:
- buymeaclue's review
This is a very small book, and I had to be in the right mood to feel up to Kayla's voice, which is snappy and slangy and very fun. I was a little irritated that the main plot is mostly "Oh, I can be feminist and wear heels too!" as I felt the nuances of social expectations and gender roles and etc. weren't fully explored, and that the book took the easy way out with Rosalie's hardcore, "you're not a feminist unless you're like me" line.
I suspect a lot of this is just that I'm at the wrong age and place for the message and the book; I may have enjoyed it much more when I was reading tons of fantasy books featuring tomboys with swords as good and embroidering girly girls as simpering, evil, and cruel.
Still, it's a very fun book, and I laughed my way through it. It takes on romance, dance, family, and friendship, and while I think it could have taken more time with some of the issues, it's also possible that too many pages would have weighed it down as well. Also, I'm really enjoying this trend of YA novels for girls that star girls of color and make race an aspect of their lives, but not the main issue.
I'll be really interested to see what Winston writes next.
Links:
- buymeaclue's review