Honor Girl: review

Huge thanks are in order to Candlewick Press for the review copy!

Maggie Thrash grew up in the South. She is the author of the graphic memoir Honor Girl, which is her coming out story. Strange Truth and Strange Lies were inspired by her experiences at an exclusive prep school in Atlanta, where everyone had secrets.

You can also find her on lonercomics.com and on instagram @maggiethrash

Title: Honor Girl

Author: Maggie Thrash

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Page Count: 267 pages

Genre: YA graphic novel

All-girl camp. First love. First heartbreak. At once romantic and devastating, brutally honest and full of humor, this graphic-novel memoir is a debut of the rarest sort.

Maggie Thrash has spent basically every summer of her fifteen-year-old life at the one-hundred-year-old Camp Bellflower for Girls, set deep in the heart of Appalachia. She’s from Atlanta, she’s never kissed a guy, she’s into Backstreet Boys in a really deep way, and her long summer days are full of a pleasant, peaceful nothing . . . until one confounding moment. A split-second of innocent physical contact pulls Maggie into a gut-twisting love for an older, wiser, and most surprising of all (at least to Maggie), female counselor named Erin. But Camp Bellflower is an impossible place for a girl to fall in love with another girl, and Maggie’s savant-like proficiency at the camp’s rifle range is the only thing keeping her heart from exploding. When it seems as if Erin maybe feels the same way about Maggie, it’s too much for both Maggie and Camp Bellflower to handle, let alone to understand.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from Candlewick Press!

Every once in a blue moon a graphic novel comes along that completely steals my heart. I wasn't expecting the emotional rollercoaster, but I'm glad I took the ride.

Maggie is the vest protagonist; she's funny and she excels at the things she loves. She also loves her guns which is rare to see in a queer character as they can be very political and lean to one side of the scale. As a liberal gun-lover, I applaud this. She learns about how to take up space and how to navigate her sexual identity as she realizes she has a crush on one of the camp counselors.

This is a great book for teen girls as it does touch upon bullying, friendship, depression, standing up for yourself, and what to do when your friend is in the closet. Spoiler alert: You. Do. Nothing. But. Support. Them.

I liked the artwork, although I had trouble telling the girls apart sometimes. I did appreciate the style and the humor in the book which had me laughing out loud.

I docked a star initially for the abrupt ending, but the more I thought about it, the more fitting it became. First crushes are not meant to last. You grow up. You move on.

Favorite quote: "Not every moment has to happen."

Favorite character: Kevin from BSB :p