Rereading the Alanna books reveals a simple, oft-repeated lesson: Girls, it turns out, can do everything boys do — in fact, they can do it better. (And, like, how much better is this for young girls to hear than the endless litany of designer brand names infesting some current YA, which, okay, I also enjoy reading but I’m glad I read this and not that as a 9 year old?)
It could only be Fine Lines, the Friday feature which takes a semi-serious, sometimes-critical, look at beloved children’s and YA books from the past. This week it was Tamora Pierce’s FIRST book, published in 1983.
That was a little before my tine in terms of reading YA literature, and though the book wasn’t exactly elementary school fare, I think I might have enjoyed it. Grrrl Power all the way.