About the Book
Title: Tomboy (2nd ed.)
Author: Janelle Reston
Date: March 19, 2018
Length: 63 pages
Publisher: NineStar Press
Categories: YA, lesbian, historical fiction, romance, 1950s, friends-to-lovers
Synopsis
Some kids’ heads are in the clouds. Harriet Little’s head is in outer space.
In 1950s America, everyone is expected to come out of a cookie-cutter mold. But Harriet prefers the people who don’t, like her communist-sympathizer father and her best friend Jackie, a tomboy who bucks the school dress code of skirts and blouses in favor of T-shirts and blue jeans. Harriet realizes she’s also different when she starts to swoon over Rosemary Clooney instead of Rock Hudson—and finds Sputnik and sci-fi more fascinating than sock hops.
Before long, Harriet is secretly dating the most popular girl in the school. But she soon learns that real love needs a stronger foundation than frilly dresses and feminine wiles.
Purchase Links
NineStar Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Review
This is a quick read, perfect for a quiet morning with a cup of tea. It’s a sweet, gentle story about self-discovery and realizing the love you’ve been waiting for has been there all along.
Both Harriet, the narrator, and Jackie, her best friend, are the kind of role models girls of any orientation could use. They’re smart and interesting and unafraid of having opinions that go against the grain. It’s a joy to see their friendship blossom and then bloom into something more.
This story is very low on angst or drama. The tension doesn’t come from Harriet’s secret relationship with a popular girl nor even from romantic pining. The girls’ families are supportive, more or less, and it makes sense in context. It’s refreshing to read a story where the primary conflict isn’t over their gender or orientation.
The girls in this story are all a product of their times, and I even found myself sympathetic to the girl who breaks Harriet’s heart. She, too, is expected to live inside a tidy box, to the point she’s not willing or able to understand herself. We don’t really get to see closure to her story, but a part of me wonders how she turns out in the end.
All in all, this is a terrific story for any (read: every) girl who feels the tension between what society expects and what she wants. What a lovely book.
For girls who break molds, well-researched historical details, and a story I’d give to my daughter, this gets 10/10 fountain pens.
About the Author
Janelle Reston lives on a lake with their partner and their black cats. They love watching Battlestar Galactica and queering gender. Their work has been featured in Best Women’s Erotica, Volume 2; Best Lesbian Erotica, Volume 2; and the 2018 Lambda Literary Award Finalist Unspeakably Erotic.
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