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Summary | Discuss | Reviews | More Information | Read-Alikes
A recently transitioned girl tries to figure out who she is—while trying to manage who everyone else wants her to be—in this funny, unexpected, and affecting new graphic novel from Eisner-nominated writer Magdalene Visaggio and artist Paulina Ganucheau.
The last thing Phoebe Zito wants is to be noticed. The newest kid at Sally Ride High School, newly arrived in Los Angeles, and newly transitioned, she's just trying to blend in while she figures out exactly who she is. But with her mom checked out, her dad still adjusting to having a daughter, and no guidebook on how to be a girl, that isn't going to be easy.
Enter Mackenize Ishikawa. She's the girl who all girls want to be, and all the boys want to be with—and, Mackenzie has decided, Phoebe's new best friend. Mackenzie knows what it takes to survive and thrive as a girl in high school, most of all that no matter who Phoebe wants to be, or who she wants to date, she's going to need someone having her back.
Phoebe soon realizes what Mackenzie knows too well: Being true to yourself is going to mean breaking some hearts. But as Phoebe discovers what kind of girl she is—and what kind of girl everyone around her thinks she's supposed to be—she worries one of those hearts will be her own.
What are you reading this week? (11/14/2024)
I've been catching up on some of the graphic novels I missed earlier in the year; this week I finished Girlmode by Magdalene Visaggio, How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger, and Past Tense: Facing Family Secrets and Finding Myself in Therapy by Sacha Mardou. The first two are both YA, a...
-Norah_Piehl
"A must-read that portrays one teenage girl's struggles to find—and stand up for—herself." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An insightfully honest exploration of teen girlhood." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Every scene is gorgeously drawn with bright, poppy color. An earnest and honest journey through one girl's most eventful school year." —Booklist
This information about Girlmode was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Magdalene Visaggio is the Eisner- and GLAAD Media Award–nominated writer of the cult-favorite comics series Kim & Kim, Eternity Girl, and Morning in America as well as the acclaimed graphic novel The Ojja-Wojja. She is also a pretty solid rhythm guitarist. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, she now lives in New York City. You can visit her online at magsvisaggio.com.
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