Does My Body Offend You?
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
A timely story of two teenagers who discover the power of friendship, feminism, and standing up for what you believe in, no matter where you come from. A collaboration between two gifted authors writing from alternating perspectives, this compelling novel shines with authenticity, courage, and humor.
Malena Rosario is starting to believe that catastrophes come in threes. First, Hurricane María destroyed her home, taking her unbreakable spirit with it. Second, she and her mother are now stuck in Florida, which is nothing like her beloved Puerto Rico. And third, when she goes to school bra-less after a bad sunburn and is humiliated by the school administration into covering up, she feels like she has no choice but to comply.
Ruby McAllister has a reputation as her school's outspoken feminist rebel. But back in Seattle, she lived under her sister’s shadow. Now her sister is teaching in underprivileged communities, and she’s in a Florida high school, unsure of what to do with her future, or if she’s even capable making a difference in the world. So when Ruby notices the new girl is being forced to cover up her chest, she is not willing to keep quiet about it.
Neither Malena nor Ruby expected to be the leaders of the school's dress code rebellion. But the girls will have to face their own insecurities, biases, and privileges, and the ups and downs in their newfound friendship, if they want to stand up for their ideals and––ultimately––for themselves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Living in Puerto Rico, 15-year-old Malena Malavé Rosario was a "natural leader" and "doer"; now, though, stuck in Florida with her mother following Hurricane María, she's a "spectator," missing home and her father. When a bad sunburn makes it painful for her to wear a bra, and school administration calls her in for attending class without one, she's mortified—and initially taken aback as another student tries to come to her aid. White senior Ruby is low on personal boundaries but genuinely eager to help; having moved from Seattle to care for her grandmother, she knows what it's like to feel out of place. The two begin organizing protests against the sexist dress code, sweeping up fellow students, including Malena's cousin Carlos, a star baseball player with a crush on Ruby. Cuevas (Salty, Bitter, Sweet) and Marquardt (Flight Season) alternate first-person chapters, subtly taking up hot-button issues—not just unfair dress codes, but varying judgments for "a curvy brown girl" and "a twiggy white girl," sexual assault, and the arrayed privileges and expectations the characters bring to the situation—in an energetic, thought-provoking story of friendship and girl power. Ages 12–up. Agents: (for Cuevas) Saritza Hernandez, Andrea Brown Literary; (for Marquardt) Erin Harris, Folio Literary.
