Girl Mans Up

Written by M-E Girard

Narrated by Emma Galvin

Lambda Literary Award Winner! “Pen is an inspiration to anyone who’s struggled to be understood, and a vital addition to the growing world of genderqueer protagonists.” —New York Times Book Review

All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it?

They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty.

But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth—that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

M. E. Girard’s Girl Mans Up is perfect for fans of Meredith Russo, Becky Albertalli, Alex Sanchez, and Jaye Robin Brown!

Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2016 * Children’s Book Council Books Best Book of 2016 * Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Coming-of-Age Novel of 2016 and Best Teen Book of 2016 with Unforgettable Protagonists * Publishers Weekly Fall 2016 Flying Starts * William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9780062642868

M-E Girard

M-E Girard’s debut, Girl Mans Up, won the Lambda Literary Award and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award. She lives just outside of Toronto, Canada, where she splits her time between writing YA fiction, being a mom to a toddler, and working as a registered nurse. M-E dedicated the bulk of her nursing career to working with special-needs kids, and more recently she was an ER and ICU nurse during the first waves of the pandemic. A 2013 and 2015 Lambda Literary Fellow, M-E is a proud feminist who is endlessly fascinated with what it means to be a girl—especially a queer, fat girl. You can find her online at www.megirard.com.

Reviews for Girl Mans Up

[Lisa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Raw and honest book about finding yourself. I'm sure as women who have cut our hair we've all gone through some prejudices

[Caitlin Hamann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such an amazing book! I couldn't stop listening. Highly recommend!

[lynild · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great book that touches on some of the difficulties of being non-binary in gender presentation, how it may feel and how many may react to it.
There is also interesting family dynamics, a satisfying lesbian relationship between the MC and a girl her age and some very interesting and satisfying friendship drama.

All in all I enjoyed this book as well as the narrator very much.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pen has always been what people would call a tomboy, but she doesn’t necessarily want to transition to be a boy - she just wants to be who she is. Her friends are all guys, and have been completely cool with her in the past, but now that Pen has a crush on a girl one of her friends wants, the group has started to fracture. As Pen explores a new relationship with a girl, her friend waffles between treating her sickly sweet, like she’s a fragile girl, and too rough, like she’s a tough guy. Pen just wants her old friends back, but she knows she might have to literally fight for herself.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

fiction (LGTBQ; teen/school drama, girl gamers, and some fist-fighting; incidentally, Pen's parents are Old World Portuguese immigrants). I love the cover and how Pen grows as a character (learning about true friendship and how to make smarter choices in her actions) in this story. More, please!

Parental note: Pen is an 11th grader and she and her friends deal with some adult situations (teen pregnancy and the sort of actions that result in teen pregnancy (though nothing explicit), weed and alcohol consumption, fist-fighting (in which the inherent dangers are handily pointed out by a cop--namely, accidental death and going to jail for manslaughter).

[fingerpost_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Girl Mans Up covers a lot of ground... family relationships, both good and bad, frienships, also both good and bad, teen pregnancy, being a lesbian, respect, loyalty, doing the right thing, and above all, being true to yourself.The narrator, Pen, is a Junior in a Catholic high school in the suburbs near Toronto. She knows who she is, but nearly everyone else seems to want her to be something else. She dresses like a boy, acts like a boy, hangs out with boys, and loves video games. She has trouble at school and at home because of it. The only two people who seem to really accept he as she is are her adult brother, Johnny, and her low-life friend Colby. Johnny is awesome. Colby is scum. And a big element of the book is Pen's growing realization that her best friend is a pretty horrible person.Pen has a crush on Blake, a girl works at the gamer's store in the mall, and is also a fellow student. Pen describes how she feels having a crush, and how she feels when that crush turns out to have the hots for her too, and Girard's writing is absolutely spot-on. Anyone who has ever had a crush (and I think that's about everyone) will recognize those feelings. Doesn't matter if you're hetero, lesbian, gay... those feelings towards your crush are the same.Although the book will surely be embraced mainly by a lesbian audience, it is entirely accessible to anyone, teen or older, regardless of sexual orientation. Because it's just a damn good book.

[bucketofrhymes · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book. I hadn't realized how much YA fiction needed a character like Pen (or how few times I'd seen butch characters and this sort of exploration of gender roles and experiences).

[khaddox-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was provided to me as an uncorrected digital review copy by the publisher, via Edelweiss.

All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty.
But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth—that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

Girl Mans Up is currently the most satisfying read of the year for me. I was happy with the depiction of Pen, a girl who doesn’t really feel like a girl, but doesn’t want to be a boy either. She digs girls, but doesn’t feel comfortable with the labels gay, lesbian, or queer. The thing about Pen is that she isn’t interested in putting other peoples’ questions about her gender or sexual preference to rest. She just wants to be allowed to be herself, without being treated like she’s a freak. This rings very true to me, and I feel it will do the same with teenagers. Even those who aren’t going through the same circumstances as Pen, will recognize the frustration of feeling that you have to fit into everyone else’s expectations, and God help you if you don’t. At the heart of it, this book is about acceptance: Acceptance of one self and of others, even if the only acceptance you can give others means accepting that they are asshats.
I would recommend this book to any teenager who struggles with needing the approval of others. I also highly recommend this to parents of tweens and teens, because a little understanding can cover a lot of hurts.

[susan.macura · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pen is a teenager who just wants to be who she is meant to be without having to conform to any labels. However, her traditional Portuguese parents want her to look and act more like a “normal” girl. The person who really understands her and stands up for her is her older brother, himself somewhat of a maverick in this family as well since he does not get a good job in the factory like his father but instead starts his own handyman business. Pen has friends at school she hangs out with – mainly popular Colby who she plays wingman for and Tristen, her best friend from childhood. Life gets complicated when Pen meets Blake, the girl of her dreams, while also becoming involved in the complicated relationship of Colby and his girlfriend Olivia. There are a number of mature themes discussed in this book concerning family, friendship, the right to choose, gender identity and sexuality, so this book is definitely for more mature teens.