Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell and Katie Cutugno

Blurb

"It starts before you can even remember: You learn the rules for being a girl. . . .

Marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school paper, she dreams of getting into Brown University. Marin’s future seems bright―and her young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett, is always quick to admire her writing and talk books with her.

But when “Bex” takes things too far and comes on to Marin, she’s shocked and horrified. Had she somehow led him on? Was it her fault?

When Marin works up the courage to tell the administration what happened, no one believes her. She’s forced to face Bex in class every day. Except now, he has an ax to grind.

But Marin isn’t about to back down. She uses the school newspaper to fight back and she starts a feminist book club at school. She finds allies in the most unexpected people, like “slutty” Gray Kendall, who she’d always dismissed as just another lacrosse bro. As things heat up at school and in her personal life, Marin must figure out how to take back the power and write her own rules."

Hardcover, 304 pages
Published April 7th 2020 by Balzer + Bray
With thanks to the authors, publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Review

The blurb above is an excellent summary of the essential parts of this story. What it doesn't tell you is how well the authors portray Marin's fear, frustration and the questions she asks herself of how this happened and how to avoid making it worse. How the authorities assume she is lying because she's young and the teacher in question happens to be young and attractive. The sense of powerlessness this gives her takes her out of her comfort zone and shapes her into a stronger person whose eyes have been opened to the world. The article she writes in the school newspaper called 'Rules for Being a Girl' affected me deeply and I wish I could quote it in full here as it is such a perceptive description of the contradictory expectations on women and how most people subconsciously subscribe to them. The article highlighted some aspects of life which I hadn't realised were problematic until I read it and seeing them side by side you realise the mixed messages which are being given to women of all ages. Here is a short quote:

"Don't be one of those girls who can't eat pizza. You're getting the milk shake too? Whoa. Have you gained weight? Don't get so skinny your curves disappear. Don't get so curvy you aren't skinny. Don't take up too much space. It's just about your health."

This is such a powerful story and exposes the wide variety of reactions that you see in social media when someone says something happened to them and the affect that those reactions have on that individual.

I can't recommend this enough as a feminist young adult book, I think every teenager in the country should read it. I hope these authors write together again! I gave it 5 out of 5.

The Authors

Candace Bushnell is the critically acclaimed, international best-selling author of Killing Monica, Sex and the City, Summer and the City, The Carrie Diaries, One Fifth Avenue, Lipstick Jungle, Trading Up, and Four Blondes. Sex and the City, published in 1996, was the basis for the HBO hit series and two subsequent blockbuster movies. Lipstick Jungle became a popular television series on NBC, as did The Carrie Diaries on the CW.

Katie Cotugno is the New York Times bestselling author of messy, complicated, feminist love stories. She studied Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College and received her MFA in Fiction at Lesley University.

Katie is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Mississippi Review, and Argestes, among others.

The great loves of her life include child's pose, her little sister, and mozzarella and honey sandwiches. She lives in Boston with her husband, Tom, and her dog, Avon.