Welcome to Litsy!

A memoir of Liz through her teenage years as she deals with sexuality, bullies, and gender stereotypes.

3.5 ⭐️ Picked this up at the library yesterday and quickly read through Prince‘s memoir. I related to her experience in some ways, as I definitely had a boyish presentation and style growing up. She grapples with the pressure of “being a girl” in society‘s eyes and - thankfully - comes to realize that “being a girl” on her own terms is what really matters. (I give kudos to Brother George for his support, which was unexpected.)

I thought this was really good. The reader gets to see some of what she was struggling with as she lived through those years as someone who refused to conform to what girls should look like or do. Though I was never a tomboy, I was certainly also not a “girly girl”, so I could see some things in her that I felt, as well. I really thought this did a good job of showing her struggles

Liz examines her experiences with gender-nonconformity, starting in her early childhood. She always identified with being masculine, but the world kept pushing femininity on her. I enjoyed this book. It was great seeing how Liz represented her past experiences with gender dysphoria and finding comfort in being herself. It's not easy living your truth when the world wants you to act a certain way according to what's between your legs.

As someone who identifies as female but is not usually a “girly-girl,” I definitely related to some of the people in this graphic memoir. Liz was a tomboy growing up. She wore boys clothes and hated dresses, makeup, etc. This is about her struggle to fit in. I related more to Liz‘s friends who straddled “girl world” and “tomboy”. (I had short hair, usually wore pants but loved makeup.) Overall, a great examination of gender and fitting in. #hoopla

I had a hard time choosing #3books I hated. Three Women was an easy choice...I couldn‘t get past the first 50 pages. Tomboy felt like the summary was misleading. And Honor Girl was just a slog. For a story about a coming-of-age lesbian identity novel, it didn‘t focus much on her journey of identity discovery. I also couldn‘t get past the idea that a 19 y/o would want to get romantically involved with a 15y/o. It felt gross.

I...really didn‘t actually like this very much. Although it comes to a proper conclusion, way too much time is spent on self-hate and boy drama along the way.

snek

🐌 content

A child has gotten to this graphic memoir. #librarybook

Now for something that won‘t take 12 hours to read. #agraphicmemoir #readharder2020

My book review for this graphic memoir is on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDMJzQ6xHaA

Enjoy!

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 166: On Brand with Karen

Jenny was reading up to the minute we started recording because she wanted to talk about one of these books with Karen specifically. We talk about graphic novels in other languages, romance representation, and obscure science. And, as usual, we laugh a lot.
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https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy166

I have been thinking for a few days about how to review this book. I can‘t fully explain why I really, really disliked Tomboy. It reads as a boring story about one person‘s friendships throughout her life. Her gender identity journey definitely takes the backseat in this book... that is about her gender identity. So much of this book is about Liz working through not being a boy, but not being a girl. Except, she does know she‘s a girl. Cont‘d👇🏼

“To borrow a metaphor from the kitchen sink... children form strong opinions easily. They soak up information from their parents, school, and the media and repeat it back to the world. So when you don‘t look or act like what everyone is told is the norm, you get proverbially barfed on a lot.”
This is so, so relatable.

This is an honest, awkward, and funny graphic memoir. It is interesting because the gender issues explored are not about sexual orientation or identity in the sense that we usually see, but in a way where the person is cis and straight but doesn‘t fit what she is told a woman is. In fact, she has to confront her own biases against women to become comfortable in her own skin.

Tomboy is my last full book of 2018. (I fell short of my 85 book goal by 7 books in the end, but that‘s ok.) I enjoyed this graphic memoir of Liz Prince‘s struggle with gender nonconformity. Here‘s to lots more fabulous reads in 2019!! Happy New Year 🎆

Just finished this amazing graphic novel!

Decided to do the outsidey thing and read at the library instead of at home. Tomboy is an absolute blast of a graphic memoir, incredibly relatable, and deals with internalizing misogyny as a kid/teen.

I expected more from this book--and I don't think it was written long enough ago to excuse it. A girl growing up dealing with how her sense of self doesn't align with society's gender norms is an important story to tell, but this author wasn't ready to fully analyze or unpack her childhood experiences-the discussion was still VERY invested in the gender binary, made zero mention of trans ppl, & BARELY acknowledged how (cont ⬇️) ...

My January reading stats. It was a good reading month. I read Stephen King‘s It this month which was over 1100 pages long. I hope I can keep up the pace in February 😄

I absolutely loved this book. Liz's story was told in an extremely interesting way. Her feelings of alienation and not being accepted for who she is really resonated with me.

When she goes to a non traditional high school, she meets a group of peers who accept her for being herself. It is a shame that it takes so long for her to find peace, but I know there is a similar story for a lot of people. Learn to love yourself and know that you are ok.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Evening reading. 💕

This was great. I was also a socially awkward Tomboy in the early '90's

This #graphicmemoir was a great look into the struggles faced by people who don't conform to the societal expectations of their gender. Having grown up a #tomboy in a conservative town, I could relate to several of Liz's experiences and thoughts. The message "there are many ways to be a woman" emphasizes that a woman isn't in the wrong for liking things that society deems masculine. If anything, it makes her more awesome. #feminist

an important #memoir about friends, bullies, growing up, and gender and all the other stuff in between #comix (and a quiet house and a cup of coffee and a mint brownie) #booksandtreats #riotgrams

This is such a kickass graphic memoir about gender non-conformity and the ideas surrounding gender that permeate every aspect of our culture. I recommend giving it a read! Also, I'm playing around with the Bookout app that tracks pages and reading time. Pretty cool.

My daughter got this for Christmas. I'm halfway through the preread. I understand the point, which is good, but I am not 💯 sold on how it is being presented. Will post full review later.

Getting ready to read this graphic novel, recommended by my local librarian!

Well this was underwhelming and surprisingly unnuanced. I think readers who are being introduced to the concept of oppressive gender norms (ie, lots of straight cis dudes & some women) could get a lot out of this, but not me. Plus it showed a lack of understanding about queer & trans people. It walks a dangerous line of expressing the idea that girls / femininity are weak & inferior w/out spending nearly enough time refuting and questioning that.

"I don't dress like a boy to attract girls." Uh...is this what all queer women do, dress like boys to get the ladies? Guess I missed that memo. Pretty sure masculine queer women dress they way the do for the same reason Liz Prince does: "because it feels natural."

I really enjoy graphic memoirs, and this one is now on my list of favorites. Smart and funny, and a touching and instructive story about gender identity. And I LOVED the art.

This is the book I needed to pull my mood up from the pit it's been in since certain events last week. I bought a stack of feminist graphic memoirs and decided to dig into this first. Prince is funny and astute and I want to sneak this book into my local middle school for the right girl to find at the right time.

The picture is of Liz giving the side-eye to the pink balloon my toddler was handed in the store this week.

over on @bookriot I rounded up great nonfic about girls and women for tweens and teens (& adults). dig in! http://bookriot.com/2016/10/19/excellent-nonfiction-girls-tween-teen-readers/

2016, Book 33 "The stereotype of the butch lesbian has plagued me my whole life but I don'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 buillied. And I was tired of having these false labels applied to me. I would sometimes fantasise about what my life would have been like if I had been a normal girl. But I didn't like the Liz in those fantasies."

*Astoundingly excellent* I grabbed this out of the kids' library bin + became instantly hooked. The honesty in here is refreshing and humorous-sometimes even heartbreaking. Guys can read this too! I saw myself in here AND my girls AND my boy. So glad I read this so I can discuss parts with my kids.

This book sums up all of the feelings.