Title: Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir
Author: Maggie Thrash
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978-0763687557
Genre: Graphic Memoir
Pages: 272
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5 Stars
For the longest time after I came out, all I remember reading is gay literature. I devoured all of them – from Edmund White to Gore Vidal to Tennessee Williams and not to forget William Baldwin. I was scared of reading lesbian literature, thinking I would never be able to relate to it, because it wasn’t about two men. Of course, I was highly mistaken. The angst and the pain were the same. The feeling of alienation, even more similar. So basically, I was being an idiot by not exploring more diverse literature, that was right there for the taking.
Then several same-sex love books were being read, despite the gender. It didn’t matter anymore as I discovered the fact that human emotion is the same, no matter what and if I were to discriminate then I wouldn’t be any better than the next person who does the same. Having said that, September has begun with a cracking of a read, a graphic memoir at that, titled “Honor Girl” by Maggie Thrash.
Honor Girl is of course a true story of Maggie’s life – a summer spent at a camp when she was fifteen and why was that so important to her. So yes, the story is about Maggie and self-discovery and all of that at that age, but it is also about first love, which to me is paramount. Maybe that’s why I picked up this book at all. It is about Maggie and the way she feels for a female counselor at the camp and thereby what transpires between the two. It is about them having to be careful about their interactions (given the world we live in and how cruel it can be to same-sex lovers), to confessing their love and the angst and sometimes humor around it.
Maggie’s life is brilliantly told by her, at least the formative years and how it shaped her as a human being (you can tell to some extent). The artwork is beautiful and adorable to a very large extent. What I loved about this book was the entire camping site. The illustrations brought it to life and all I wanted to do was go to a place like this one. The nighttime scenes are done with such vividness that it sucks you into the narrative and sense of place. At the same time, it isn’t easy talking about same-sex love and that too between teenagers and more so when it is from your life, but Maggie does it so beautifully and gracefully at that, it just seems effortless all throughout. The bittersweet moments make the read seem so real – just what might happen to you.
“Honor Girl” is a perfect summer read and more importantly also for young girls who are on the verge of discovering their sexuality and personality. It may help, or it may not – but what it will end up doing is warming the heart. A kind of book you must gift every young girl – whatever she might grow up to be.
Of Books and Reading 