Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince

4 Stars

I was going to say “my apologies for this being long and rambly,” but I’m fairly certain 99.9999% of my reviews have become long and rambly so I’m no longer apologizing ; )



Strange little story . . . Tomboy popped up on my library recommendation list as an option when I had to go on the waiting list for Gracefully Grayson. Why the library would recommend a book to me that had an even longer waiting list than the one I originally intended to request is beyond me. But anywho, I’m a sucker and put a hold on both books. Then I poked around Goodreads and found my friend Erica had already read and enjoyed this story (and wrote an actual review, very unlike the lack of substance and abundance of imagery you are soon to see in this review space). Weird thing is – Goodreads did the “you might like this” thing to Erica too. Those evil librarians, they conspire against us EVERYWHERE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA – I keeeeeeed, Erica, please don’t hurt me.

So long story even longer, my turn finally came around and I picked up Tomboy with little to no expectations regarding whether I would enjoy it or not. Imagine my surprise when I absolutely LOVED it. Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir is just what claims it to be. This is the story of Liz Prince’s childhood as a tomboy. Liz isn’t gay, she isn’t trans, she just doesn’t like wearing dresses . . . and when you’re a kid that is something that can get you bullied . . .



Kids are assholes.

Liz’s story tells about how she dealt with bullies,


^Ha!

negotiated the shark infested waters of puberty, changing friendships and first crushes,



(Wayne’s World reference? CLASSIC!!!!)

and eventually found a great group of people who accepted her for who she was. The story also includes some pretty awesome information regarding how much girls kick ass and to make sure to never sell yourself short . . .



I loved this book. Almost as much as I love the fact that Liz Prince has written all about me for the Adventure Time comic book . . .



Seriously – who doesn’t love Adventure Time????



BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

The only downfall is I want every child in the universe to own this book, but it contains some F-bombs that not all parents will be comfortable letting their tweenage child see. If you don’t mind a “dropped bomb” or three, I highly recommend it for kids – be they the bully, the bullied, or the bystander. Even if you don’t want your kids to read it, you parents should read this one too and get a little refresher course about accepting your child for whoever and whatever they want to be. When you give your kid a little leeway when it comes to choosing his/her own path, you end up with an awesome result.

Like a kid who can drink his Saturday morning chocolate milk out of an Iron Man goblet while rocking a Planet Comicon t-shirt . . .



And participate in the Little League World Series Homerun Derby later that afternoon . . .



That’s just super . . . man.


(See what I did there? So clever sometimes.)

Oh, and one more note to all you parents: It doesn’t hurt to let your own freak flag fly every once in a while too. Lead by example and encourage your kid to take the road less traveled ; )