Girl Up

Starred review from June 1, 2017
Bates is the wickedly funny and exceptionally smart founder of Everyday Sexism, a feminist website and empire that infiltrated all corners of the Internet and became the title of her first book (2016). This is her latest gift to the movement: a collection of essays that reads like a love letter to one of the strongest and most resilient populations on Earth: teenage girls. Bates clearly warns readers from the get-go that her book is not abstinent, self-hating, nor polite. She is honest about the difficulties of growing up under a patriarchy, especially the one that exists online. She offers advice on how to safely navigate social media, how to start an intersectional feminist society at school, and how to love your body for all that it can do. She riffs on unrealistic standards and double-standards. Bates begs readers to remember that there is no such thing as normal when it comes to sexual development and appetite and also to remember that feminism is just a fun word for the unequivocal belief that all humans have equal value. Girl Up is an intimate, laugh-out-loud funny, and adorably illustrated call to arms for the next generation of warrior women.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)