Four great YA feminist books

Here’s a short list of YA feminist books I’ve enjoyed! Happy reading!

Does my Body Offend You? by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt

Malena and her mother have to settle in Florida after hurricane Maria destroys their Puerto Rican island. Ruby is an outspoken feminist.
One day, Malena goes to school without a bra, because of a bad sunburn on her back. She’s pulled out of class, and the assistant principal tells her she has to tape panty-liners over her nipples. Malena feels violated. So when Ruby hears her crying in the bathroom, Ruby explains that the dress code doesn’t say anything about bras. She convinces Malena not to wear the panty-liners, but then Malena gets detention because of it. Ruby and Malena decide to start a fight for a gender-neutral dress-code. But over the course of the book, Ruby and Malena’s friendship will be tested in more ways than one.

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Vivian Carter is so done with the sexist guys at her small-town Texas high school. So, inspired by her mom’s old Riot Grrrl stuff, she anonymously makes a feminist zine titled Moxie. But Viv isn’t just dealing with Moxie problems. She’s dealing with friend problems, guy problems, and getting through high school. But Vivian forges ahead, meeting other young women, and fighting back against the administration who sees girls as objects.

Amelia Westlake Was Never Here by Erin Gough

A super good book! It reminded me a lot of Moxie, the second book on this list. Harriet and Will are two girls who do not get along at all. But one day, they decide to stand up to their rude, sexist swim coach. They create a series of anonymous drawings with captions that point out the things happening at their school. They create a fake student named ‘Amelia Westlake’. Amelia is supposedly the creator of the drawings. Then Harriet and Will move onto bigger pranks.
Will and Harriet have started an Amelia-Westlake-themed revolution, but how long will it take them to figure out that they’re falling for each other? (That was probably the cheesiest thing I’ve ever said.)

Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

I love this book! Jasmine is tired of being called out for her weight, and being given stereotypical “black girl roles” in her school plays. Chelsea is fed up with the sexist and racist things happening at her so-called progressive school. So the two best friends decide to start a woman’s rights club. Their clubs’ blog is called Write Like a Girl (I love that name!). They post things about strong female artists (not specifically paintings, but poets, writers, actors) and give people more insight on feminism. But then their principal decides that their blog is problematic, and shuts the club down. Jasmine and Chelsea’s new mission is to get their principal to reinstate their club, but Write Like A Girl inspired many more people than just girls in their school. This fight is bigger than them, and Chelsea and Jasmine need to see that before they can make real change. Overall, an awesome book!