Fourteen-year-old Maeve Mulvaney isn’t happy to have moved from Vermont to a small town in Florida, where the weather is hot and bullies have nearly free rein at her school. One boy in particular harasses Maeve about her weight and accuses her of faking her love of comics—but his father is a big supporter of the school’s athletic teams, and none of the teachers or administrators want to stop the son’s behavior. Maeve’s parents, particularly her mom, just think she needs to try harder to be positive about her new school.
Maeve finds common cause with several other students, including one boy who is gay. (Maeve herself is bisexual, although this aspect of her identity is not explored, and she does not experience biphobia.) Together, Maeve and her friends form a club aimed at creating positive change in their community, like the superheroes who inspire them. But addressing the deeply entrenched sexism, queerphobia, and fatphobia at the school isn’t easy, and even Maeve can’t avoid some behaviors that insult her new friends. Can she make amends and rally people to make a difference?
At the risk of (perhaps obvious) spoilers, I’ll say that this is ultimately a story of hope and of the strength in allyship and community. Importantly, though, author Kelly Mangan goes beyond just a simple story about overcoming peer bullying to show the systems and adult behaviors that encourage such bullying and keep it in place. Young readers should find insight and inspiration in Maeve’s fight to address this, even as we adults should see to it that they never have to. A highly recommended read.
Maeve is White. Her friends are racially/ethnically diverse.
