‘MOXIE’ IN DEFENSE OF
Negative review of Houston author’s girl-power YA novel angers many fans
HOUSTON author Jennifer Mathieu’s new young-adult novel became the center of an online storm this week, thanks to a review that many readers are calling sexist. Mathieu’s “Moxie,” which publishes in September, is about a teen who stands up to sexism and misogyny at her high school. The book is pitched as a girl-power story, and Amy Poehler’s production company already has optioned the film rights.
But “Moxie” got buzz of a different kind Wednesday, when Kirkus Reviews — a powerhouse in book reviewing — posted a review that came down hard on Mathieu’s message.
In the book, a mild-mannered high school student named Vivian gets fed up with the sexism she sees at her school in East Rockport, Texas: unequal dress codes, groping in the hallways, football players treated like kings while female athletic teams make do with scraps. Inspired by her mom’s ’90s Riot Grrrl youth, Vivian starts producing a zine and inspires a girl-power rebellion on campus.
The unsigned Kirkus review expressed concern over the book’s “troubling moments.” The novel, it said, inspires “vigilante justice” in a rape storyline and “fails to educate readers” about the proper ways to report criminal behavior.
“Moxie,” the reviewer complained, leaves men out of the girl-power game: “Designed to empower, the novel occasionally fails to consider that changing a culture of misogyny requires educating and embracing support from members of all genders.”
Soon after the review was posted, Kirkus’ online comments section erupted.
“Do better, Kirkus,” wrote one commenter. “Reviewer sounds like a whiny mansplainer hurt when his gender
“For feminist men, not every space is for you. Sometimes you can step aside and let women have their voice . ... This is about a girl who is finding her voice.” Kate Sowa, Clear Lake book blogger
was unnecessary.”
Another asked: “So the criticism of the book is that the females aren’t nice enough when combatting sexism?”
Twitter lit up, too. Bloggers, YA authors, feminists and librarians rose in defense of Mathieu’s book — and encouraged people to buy it.
“Thank you, @KirkusReviews, for proving exactly why books like MOXIE need to exist,” tweeted @ExLibris_Kate, who is Houston-area book blogger Kate Sowa.
Mathieu — a high school English teacher and the author of three other YA novels — declined to wade into the fray publicly. But her readers were eager to get in a punch for her.
Karen Jensen, a book blogger and librarian in Ohio, has read a review copy of “Moxie” and calls it one of her favorite books of the year.
Sowa, who’s also read a review copy, said she was “flabbergasted” that the review “almost willfully missed the point of the book.”
It’s not right to complain that “Moxie” excludes men, she said: “For feminist men, not every space is for you. Sometimes you can step aside and let women have their voice. … This is about a girl who is finding her voice.”
Amid all the talk about mansplaining, it turns out the review was written and edited by women.
“In fact, the reviewer of ‘Moxie’ is a woman, and her review was edited by me,” said Vicky Smith, children’s and teen editor for Kirkus, in a written statement.
“Literature, like the issues confronted in ‘Moxie,’ is complicated, as are responses to it,” she wrote. “What one reader may see as empowerment another may see as a lessthan-nuanced approach to the endemic problem of sexual violence.”
Smith repeated some concerns laid out in the review, but she also encouraged readers to offer their own thoughts when the book is published: “As always, we respect and celebrate a diversity of opinion.”
That diversity became more evident Thursday, when Booklist gave “Moxie” a starred review, indicating it’s among the best in its genre. The book is “an invaluable revelation,” that review said, for teen readers just starting to discover sexism.
Andrea Greer, a fundraising consultant and “freelance activist” who lives in Houston, said that after reading the Kirkus review, she “rage-ordered” “Moxie” on Amazon. She’d been waiting until she could buy it at a local independent bookstore, but it felt important to boost Mathieu’s sales right now.
Besides, Greer said, she’ll have her chance when “Moxie” comes out in September. “I made a little list of my friends’ kids who are in seventh grade, eighth grade,” she said. She plans to buy a copy for each of them.