The Prince and the Dressmaker
By Jen Wang The Prince and the Dressmaker Themes Gender Norms Toxic Masculinity Bullying Paris, at the dawn of the modern age: Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses […]
Tight
By Torrey Maldonado Tight Themes Peer Pressure Toxic Masculinity Bullying Lately Bryan’s been feeling it in all kinds of ways. He knows what’s tight for him in a good way—reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama’s hard to escape where he’s from, and that gets him wound up tight. And […]
Maybe He Just Likes You
By Barbara Dee Maybe He Just Likes You Themes Girl Empowerment Sexual Harassment Consent Bullying For seventh-grader Mila, it starts with some boys giving her an unwanted hug on the school blacktop. A few days later, at recess, one of the boys (and fellow trumpet player) Callum tells Mila it’s his birthday, and asks her […]
AFAR
By Leila del Duca & Kit Seaton Afar Themes Girl Empowerment Healthy Masculinity Gender Norms Afrofuturism Boetema discovers she can astrally project into new worlds and possess the bodies of people on other planets. At the same time, her troublemaker brother finds himself in a scary situation after eavesdropping on an illegal deal between business […]
The House On Mango Street
By Sandra Cisneros The house on mango street Themes Girl Empowerment Toxic Masculinity Sexual Assault Immigration Respect Told in a series of vignettes, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous. The House on Mango Street is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Ages […]
