Swim Back to Me by Ann Packer

Ann Packer's book The Dive From Clausen's Pier is one of my hands-down favorites. It's a book that I have read and reread, each time feeling something new and rediscovering the meaning of hot tears.

However, I haven't been moved nearly as much by any of Packer's work since. Enter Swim Back to Me.

...

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider/ I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

"I don't know how this can be but it can: A painting is both exactly the same and entirely different every single time you look at it. That's the way it is between Jude and me now."

Yard War by Taylor Kitchings

"So people can throw bombs in other peoples' yards and still be good. As long as they keep their yards nice and go to church."

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

When Less Is More
I should love Orange is the New Black for the same reason I should (but do not) love Red Tails or The Butler or 42. Here is po;ular culture about people who look like me. Thats all I should need, right? Why are we still talking about Orange Is the New Black? The conversation is a measure of how much we are forced to settle, or, perhaps, how much we're willing to settle.

How to Be Friends with Another Woman
3. If you are the kind of woman who says, "I'm mostly friends with guys," and act like you're proud of that, like that makes you closer to being a man or something and less of a woman as if being a woman is a bad thin, see ITem 1B. It's okay if most of your friends are guys, but if you champion this as a commentary on the nature of female friendships, well, soul-search a little.
3A. If you feel like it's hard to be friends with women, consider that maybe women aren't the problem. Maybe it's just you.
3B. I used to be this kind of woman. I'm sorry to judge.
5B. If you and your friend(s) are in the same field and you can collaborate or help each other, do this without shame. It's not your fault your friends are awesome. Men invented nepotism and practically live by it. It's okay for women to do it too.
9. Don't let your friends buy ugly outfits or accessories you don't want to look at when you hang out. This is just common sense.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"It would be very nice to have a friend again. I would like that even more than a date."

"I didn't know that other people thought things abou tme. I didn't know that they looked. And I started to cry. And nobody in that room looked at me weird for doing it. And then I really started to cry."

" I wonder if it's all a lie. A permanent record, I mean."

"You ever think, Charlie, that our group is the same as any other group like the football team? And the only real difference between us is what we wear and why we wear it?"

"There were other stories and other names. By the end, all I could think was what these people must feel like when they go to their class reunions. I wonder if they're embarrassed, and I wonder if that's a small price to pay for being a legend."

"It's strange to describe reading a book as a really great experience, but that's kind of how it felt. ...It wasn't like you had to search for the philosophy. It was pretty straightforward, I thought, and the great part is that I took what the author wrote about and put it in terms of my own life. Maybe that's what being a filter means. I'm not sure. ...'I would die for you. But I won't live for you.' Something like that. I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. Maybe that is what makes people 'participate.' I'm not really certain."

"I didn't say anything for a while because I didn't know what to say. And that was that. He just let me hear what he had to say in my own way and let things be. That was probably the best part."

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney

Tomboy by Liz Prince

On puberty (or Growing and Changing): 
"It was seeming less and less likely that I would become a boy, but I'd never considered that I was becoming a woman. I guess my grasp of biology wasn't so great in 6th grade."

On cheerleaders and double standards: 
"A boy can be celebrated because of his personality and talents, regardless of how he looks. In fact, talent can make a guy attractive who may not be by traditional standards. (long hair, scraggly chin pubes, kinda scrawny)" 

"But a girl is usually only popular if she looks good. (well groomed hair, blemishless face, perfect teeth, willingness to wear revealing clothing)" 

"I wanted to be celebrated for being funny and a good artist. Of course I wanted to look good too, but on my own terms. (do nothing hair, zits-a-plenty, baggy boys clothes)" 

On sexually- oriented bullying: 
"Don't make me prove how much of a man I am....Just kidding, Don't get your hopes up, stupid." 

"The stereotype of the butch lesbian has plagued me my whole life, but I didn't dress like a boy to attract girls: I dress like a boy because it feels natural to me. I wasn't against being gay. I was against being bullied. And I was tired of having these false labels applied to me."

Perhaps my favorite simple scene takes place between Liz and her mentor, Harley, who publishes a zine and offers to meet regularly for writing sessions. This exchange really resonates, because it's so simple in its complexity. There is so much truth and heartbreak in these subjects.

"I was thinking about how (I'm) different from other girls. And how we used to talk about hating girls, and that I maybe wasn't supposed to be one."
"What makes you thin you aren't meant to be a girl?"
"Well, do I look like a girl? I don't wear make-up and dresses!" 
"Sure, but those things don't define a girl."
"It's more than the clothes though, it's like girls are expected to act a way that I don't like." 
"It's an interesting idea, but I would challenge you to decide: Do you hate girls? Or do you hate the expectations put on girls by society?"
"Is there a difference?" 


see also: swimming in tshirts, ghostbusters, chasing boys to kiss them, girl scouts, little league, third wheel