Honor Girl, by Maggie Thrash
AbeBooks.com: Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir (557) by Thrash, Maggie and a great selection of similar New, Used and Collectible Books available now at great prices.
Thrash, Maggie, Honor Girl. Candlewick Press, hardcover, 2015. ISBN: 9780763673826
Plot Summary: Set in the late-1990’s, fifteen-year-old Maggie Thrash has spent every summer at Camp Bellflower for Girls for as long as she can remember. An old-fashioned camp set in the backdrop of an isolated region of Appalachia, Camp Bellflower is where good southern girls go to revel in the last vestiges of their innocence, doing archery and canoeing and learning survival skills, all while isolated from their outside lives and the pressures they hold. But this summer, amidst the trading of the latest Harry Potter book and gossiping about which of the male camp employees is most attractive – or least creepy - Maggie finds herself dealing with something she never anticipated. When she falls in love with eighteen-year-old Erin, a camp counselor, Maggie becomes aware not only of her own sexuality, but also of the intolerance the world holds for people like her. Suddenly faced with homophobia from her fellow campers and counselors, Maggie finds herself dangerously close to becoming a pariah in a place that has been like a second home to her. But when things come to a head between her and Erin, Maggie must decide once and for all what matters most to her.
Reader’s Annotation: When fifteen-year-old Maggie falls in love for the first time, she learns something about herself… and a lot about the world she lives in.
Critical Evaluation: Maggie Thrash’s memoir uses a frame narrative in order to tell her story. The book starts with Maggie, several years older, meeting up with Erin during a family trip, after having neither seen nor heard from one another since they parted ways at Camp Bellflower, and ends in the same scene, neatly enveloping the story contained within the frame and lending it context and a sense of closure. Throughout the inside story, Thrash uses a flashback-style narration to overlay the visuals of the graphic novel, relating the basic idea of what is about to happen in any given scene or chapter before proceeding to tell the story within the comic.
The art in Honor Girl, also drawn by Thrash, lends to the story’s youthful feel. It feels as though it is drawn by a tween or early-teen who has just begun dabbling in art, lacking fully in more proper artistic techniques such as shading or depth. Though this would usually be a drawback in a graphic novel, the artwork complements the story’s innocent, self-unaware tone so well that it is barely noticeable from the very beginning. With it, Thrash manages to build a vivid microcosmic world that draws readers in and makes them feel as though they, too, are at Camp Bellflower.
About the Author: “Maggie Thrash grew up in the south. She is the author of the young adult novel We Know It Was You published by Simon Pulse, and the graphic memoir, Honor Girl, published by Candlewick Press. Her short stories and non-fiction articles can be found on Rookie. Maggie Thrash is represented by Stephen Barr of Writers House.” (from http://maggiethrash.com)
It definitely didnt disappoint.Honor Girl, by Maggie Thrash, is the true story of a summer she spent at camp when she was fifteen. During this particular summer, she meets a female counselor and begins to have feelings for her. This is the first time. Book Tags: honor girl pdf, graphic novel pdf, summer camp pdf, art style pdf, year old pdf. AbeBooks.com: Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir (826) by Thrash, Maggie and a great selection of similar New, Used and Collectible Books available now at great prices. Thrash, Maggie, Honor Girl.Candlewick Press, hardcover, 2015. Plot Summary: Set in the late-1990’s, fifteen-year-old Maggie Thrash has spent every summer at Camp Bellflower for Girls for as long as she can remember.An old-fashioned camp set in the backdrop of an isolated region of Appalachia, Camp Bellflower is where good southern girls go to revel in the last vestiges.
Genre: Memoir, non-fiction, graphic novel
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalk Ideas:
1. One of the things Maggie is told is that Camp Bellflower is the only place many of the girls have where they can still be innocent. How does this contrast with her relationship with Erin? Does it reinforce that idea, or destroy it?
2. Erin is several years older than Maggie. How does this affect the dynamic of their relationship?
Potential Challenges and Defense: Homosexuality, mild swearing
. Keep the library’s collection policy ready, and be prepared to explain to the challenger the library’s commitment to both listening to patron concerns and opposing censorship. Cite the Library Bill of Rights ( http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill )
Honor Girl Maggie Thrash
. Be willing to compromise. Patron concerns deserve to be listened to, and perhaps they can be satisfied with relocating the book if the library deems such an action appropriate.
. When a book is challenged, read it. Look at the context the in which the challenged material is presented. Consider both the possibility that the patron had a knee-jerk reaction to potentially objectionable content without understanding the context, and the possibility that the library placed a book that does not belong in the section in which it was placed. One is not necessarily more likely than the other.
. If the book has been added to any professional recommendation lists, has favorable reviews from well-respected publishers or review organizations, or has won any awards, be prepared to explain that to the patron. Literary merit is a strong selling point for any book, and gives the library a good case for keeping it in the collection.
. Be prepared to reconsider the book’s place in the collection, if absolutely necessary. Though it may feel as though it goes against the library’s commitment to intellectual freedom, and the ALA Bill of Rights, librarians do not always have time to thoroughly vet every piece of literature that makes its way into their collection, and sometimes patrons may catch a work that does, in fact, go against the library’s collection policies.
Reading/Interest Level: 13+
Reason for Inclusion: Graphic novel memoirs meant for teens, about being a teen, are few and far between. Maggie Thrash’s memoir is relatable in its depictions of being a teen, and in discovering one’s sexual orientation, while remaining true to its format and refraining from the common fallback of preaching from hindsight.
Honor Girl Maggie Thrash Pdf
Reviewed by Sara, Simsbury Library
As I was reading this graphic memoir, I realized that I am probably not qualified to really review a graphic book. However, I love graphic stories and found Honor Girl to be an important book for our teens of today.
Maggie, aged 15, is attending girls camp in 2000. She crushes on Erin, 19, who is a camp counselor and openly gay. When Maggie discovers she likes Erin, and in turn realizing that she is gay as well, she only tells a few people at camp. Of course word gets around. She gets spoken to about “don’t ask, don’t tell” and that girls camp is really not a place for girls like her. She gets close to Erin at times but it doesn’t get past holding hands.
Honor Girl Book
Outside of the romance, camp is filled with a lot of fun and interesting stories for Maggie. These include sleepwalking in the middle of the night, rifle practice and awards, as well as getting stranded during a flood that prevented them from going back across the river to camp.
Honor Girl Maggie Thrash Summary
Can a graphic book win the Printz? American Born Chinese won in 2007 and This One Summer won an honor last year. Thrash writes a honest, forthcoming story about what it was like, for one summer at least, to grow up a gay teen in a place that does not accept gays. The story itself draws you into Maggie’s world of summer camp and you want to know the outcome. The drawings are very simple. I had a hard time a few times distinguishing one blond girl from another. I felt that the drawings were complete and easy to understand. Thrash has a memoir that will reach today’s teens, especially speaking to those who are questioning their sexuality or have a friend doing so. Can it win the Printz? Again, I think there is a lot of competition but I wouldn’t put it past an Honor.
On a fun note, it was cool to discover that Maggie and I were the same age in the story (being 15 in the year 2000) and in love with Backstreet Boys. If you happened to have loved boy bands in the 90s, early 2000s, you should check out Maggie’s impersonation of Kevin Richardson.