A Review of Moxie

Moxie is a young adult novel by Jennifer Mathieu. Sick of the way her high school's football team treats girls, Vivian Carter starts a small "zine" that she calls Moxie, inspired by Riot Grrls. As more problems in her school become apparent, Vivian creates more issues of her zine, asking the girls to do small things to protest. As it catches on with more girls and starts handling tougher issues, Vivian realises this thing might be bigger than she ever imagined.

I've always thought that the best sort of books are ones that can teach us things, and I knew next-to-nothing about Riot Grrrl culture until reading this book. For many people, it could serve as an introduction to modern feminism, or a reminder that other people feel the same.

Vivian is no expert in feminism and feminist issues. She learns about them and develops as the book goes on. She's also delightfully awkward around people she doesn't know. And I don't mean just cute-awkward, actual awkward. Claudia is unconvinced by the whole idea of Moxie at first, but certain events bring her round. Her friend Lucy is more confident, a big-city fish out of water in small-town Texas. It's easy for Lucy to step in and take charge, but she often has to be careful that she doesn't take over. One of the things that I liked was the diversity in the types of girls who responded to Moxie's message. From every different clique in the school, some of the girls did something. I will admit that when cheerleaders were first brought up, my reaction was "oh, no." But the biggest theme here is girls supporting girls, so my initial thoughts were off. I can't finish off my round up of characters in this book without bringing up Seth. He asks if he can kiss Vivian, and is genuinely willing to learn from her about what her life in East Rockport is like as a girl. He's not perfect, however, trotting out "not all guys" pretty often.

Sometimes, parts of American culture in books are hard for me to understand. Through books and other media, I often think I've picked up a lot of information about the American high school system, but something often throws me. Here, it was the way the entire town shuts down for high school football games. I know high school sports are a huge deal, but that would seem ridiculous in the UK. I don't even know of any secondary schools with a dedicated sports team.

I actually went to two different secondary schools. My first one had a clique system that isn't far off the one I see depicted in US media, with the popular crowd, but my second one was really too big for such a system to develop. Vivian's school experience doesn't line up exactly with anything I went through, but the thing is that no two schools are the same. School is a bubble, and if something catches on, it can spread through the school like wildfire.

Dress codes are another thing I don't get, seeing as I had to wear uniforms. My schools were on the "No jewellery! Hair up! Black shoes! No nail varnish no individuality no fun" end of the spectrum, too. But I think being called out for wearing a strappy top is ridiculous, especially seeing as it's Texas. It would be better if the rules were consistent, but calling a girl out of class to measure the length of her skirt has it's own level of problems. What someone is wearing is not more important than their education. Personally, I'm starting to think that a uniform might be the best solution, but allow students to wear a little jewellery and accessories to personalise it. High and secondary school is where people really start to figure out who they are, so give students the freedom to experiment.

Moxie's (the zine) influence is small. It's not going to change the world, even as it does obtain a wider influence towards the end of the book. But then Vivian isn't trying to change the world, just her small Texas high school. It's distribution is also a learning curve for Vivian. Things that worked on a national level for the Riot Grrrls in the 90's may not have the same effect in a single small town. She and her friends also learn about feminism and feminist issues from the chain of events Vivian starts. It's a lovely way to show that something small can turn into something big.

The editing in this book could have used some extra work. Page 67 in my copy contains the line "I guessed I shouldn't any questions." Some sentences have way too many commas in them and could have done with being rewritten. And there is this event: "I spot Lucy Hernandez in the front row with a copy of Moxie in her hands ... I almost don't notice that Lucy has a copy of Moxie sitting out on her desk." I would have made that second sentence "I almost don't notice that Lucy has left her copy of Moxie sitting out on her desk."

Recommended for fans of Holly Bourne, Moxie is a book about the effect that something small can have over a wider community.