Girl Mans Up

Starred review from July 25, 2016
In this powerful debut, Girard explores questions of family, friendship, loyalty, and identity through the voice of Pen Oliveira, a 16-year old girl who’s “not into dudes,” looks and dresses like a boy, and doesn’t “get why it’s such a big deal to people, the way I am.” The second child of conservative Portuguese parents who immigrated to Ontario, Pen has long felt accepted and protected by her older brother, Johnny, and her childhood friend Colby, who treats her like one of the guys. With Colby increasingly acting like “an entitled jerk,” especially toward girls, Pen confronts difficult choices about where her loyalty lies. New friendships with Colby’s ex Olivia and a girl named Blake, who shares Pen’s love of gaming and wants to be her girlfriend, make her reconsider the meaning of respect, which her parents have always demanded. Girard forcefully conveys the fear Pen lives with, having experienced frequent mockery and bullying, and her courage in aspiring to a safe, loving community for herself and her friends. Ages 14–up. Agent: Linda Epstein, Emerald City Literary.

Pen has never been a typical girl, but, despite what people think, she's not trying to be a boy. She's just Pen. M-E Girard has created a rich character, and narrator Emma Galvin brings Pen's story to life for the listener. Pen is tired of people always giving their opinion of the way she looks. Galvin's plain-spoken voice will make Pen resonate with the listener as she acts tough on the outside but second-guesses herself on the inside. Are Pen's friends really her friends? Will her old-fashioned parents accept how she dresses and cuts her hair? Will a pretty girl fall for her? Girard's Pen sounds authentic, and Galvin's narration will have the listener rooting for her. A.G.M. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Starred review from July 1, 2016
A teen faces down hostility, making her own decisions about loyalty, respect, and gender.Sixteen-year-old Pen (not Penelope) has always been butch, including her habit of wearing her brother's clothes even though her mother says it makes her look like a "punk druggy." Old friend Colby, who accepted her gender presentation when they were 9, now insists that everyone around him prove loyalty through service: one guy procures weed, another does Colby's homework, and Pen's his wingman with girls. Pen's awkward, volatile, and abrupt--and confused about loyalty--but Colby's a real jerk. Then a girl named Blake with "crazy blond hair...and a lot of black makeup" falls for Pen, and they have a hot romance. To Colby's menacing fury, Pen also befriends his most recent castoff, Olivia, even accompanying Olivia to her abortion. Pen's parents say the ongoing gender persecution she endures is her own fault, castigating her in (italicized) Portuguese and broken English, making home life unbearable--until Pen decides for herself what respeito (respect) really means. The good things in her life, she realizes, are Blake, Olivia, video games, the supportive older brother who helps her leave home--and her gender identity, which (though unlabeled) is squarely in the nonbinary range. Pen's family is Portuguese and, like most other characters, presumably white; Olivia's "Asian" with no further designation. A strong genderqueer lesbian character, imperfect, independent, and deserving of every cheer. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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Starred review from July 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-The expression man up refers to many things. It suggests that "real men" take responsibility for their actions. Real men act bravely in the face of adversity. For Pen (short for Penelope), 16, it is a little more complicated than that. She has a difficult time knowing how to man up when she cannot even classify her own gender identity. For her, the LGBTQ lexicon carries too much cultural baggage and too many expectations. Pen does not want to define herself too closely, especially when everything in her world seems to be crashing down around her. Her best friend Colby has recently become a terrible bully, her parents are more and more unsupportive, and her older brother has been kicked out of the house. On a positive note, her crush, Blake, has taken an interest in her. Pen tries to navigate all of this, while still figuring out who that person is staring back at her from the mirror. This is a fresh title in the growing sea of LGBTQ YA literature. Pen and her peers are neither quirky nor whimsical. They cuss, drink, smoke pot, hook up, and get into fights. There is no sugarcoating in this very real portrayal of an aspect of teen life that many experience. VERDICT Recommended for fans of YA urban fiction as well as those who prefer grittier LGBTQ lit.-Jaclyn Anderson, Madison County Library System, MS

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