The Nowhere Girls also does a really good job of giving us some good character diversity. Reed does a really good job in these conversations and throughout the book in presenting a wide variety of points of view on the topics without condemning any one point of view to lift up another. As an adult reader I wish that someone had these discussions with me. In fact, some of the girls mention that they wish someone had told them they had the right to say no and other mention that they wish someone told them that it was okay to enjoy sex. These are frank conversations that many characters note they wish adults would have with them so that they could work on sorting it all out. When The Nowhere Girls get together in private places, they have what many perceive to be forbidden (and graphic) discussions about sex, sexuality, rape and more. In the midst of those big themes, there are also reminders about the importance of and power of female friendship, intersectional feminism, faith of all kinds, and more. Like Moxie by Jennifer Matthieu (which comes out tomorrow), it sets its sights on rape culture in our public high schools and sends readers the important and powerful reminder that they can and should actively stand up against sexual harassment and violence. Yes, in the title of this post I mention MRAs, which we will get to in a minute, but make no mistake: this is a powerful feminist story about teenage girls. Told in alternating perspectives, this groundbreaking novel is an indictment of rape culture and explores with bold honesty the deepest questions about teen girls and sexuality.

For their own personal reasons, Rosina and Erin feel equally deeply about Lucy’s tragedy, so they form an anonymous group of girls at Prescott High to resist the sexist culture at their school, which includes boycotting sex of any kind with the male students. When Grace learns that Lucy Moynihan, the former occupant of her new home, was run out of town for having accused the popular guys at school of gang rape, she’s incensed that Lucy never had justice.

Rosina Suarez is the queer punk girl in a conservative Mexican immigrant family, who dreams of a life playing music instead of babysitting her gaggle of cousins and waitressing at her uncle’s restaurant.Įrin Delillo is obsessed with two things: marine biology and Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they aren’t enough to distract her from her suspicion that she may in fact be an android.

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed