(2) YA This female-focused reimagining of The Outsiders abandons the testosterone-fueled rage and gang mentality of S. E. Hinton's classic coming-of-age novel and instead examines societal constraints on and violence toward young women, while exploring the bonds and power of girls' friendships. Mathieu (Afterward, rev. 11/16; Moxie, rev. 11/17) sets her story in 1964 Houston, where Evie, an economically disadvantaged fifteen-year-old, wears the label of "bad girl" as a badge of honor. When Evie is sexually assaulted by Preston, a drunken boy from affluent River Oaks, it is Diane, a "tea-sipper" extraordinaire who left River Oaks in disgrace, who comes to the rescue, inadvertently killing Preston while trying to protect Evie. Evie's "tuff" friends step up to shield Diane from "the fuzz"--until the brother of one of those friends, who has a romantic history with Diane, is arrested for the murder. Engaging dialogue and melodramatic plot twists keep pages turning as the girls' unlikely bond is solidified and the star-crossed lovers' sad story unfolds. This book holds its own as a standalone novel and offers lots of opportunities for discussion as a companion read to Hinton's.

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) YA Male administrators--and the male football players they love to pamper--rule sixteen-year-old Vivian Carter's conservative Texas high school. One day Vivian cracks; the "dutiful" girl becomes a "Moxie Girl." Channeling her rage, Vivian pens and distributes an anonymous zine, Moxie, that addresses the school's systemic misogyny. Mathieu keeps the pace brisk and the stakes climbing in this approachable, empowering story of modern teen activism.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(2) YA Caroline's eleven-year-old autistic brother Dylan goes missing. Five days later, the police find Dylan--as well as Ethan, a teen who's been missing for four years. Caroline and Ethan develop a friendship, but as Ethan confronts his abuse, he must decide what he should tell Caroline about his complicity in Dylan's abduction. Caroline's family's struggles ring true; the topic of sexual abuse is treated with great sensitivity.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(4) YA This is an intimate portrait of one young woman struggling with her commitment to the Christian Patriarchy movement. Although she has had a happy childhood, teenager Rachel struggles with the fundamentalist doctrine and her own desire to explore the outside world. The plot is predictable, but the first-person narrative is perceptive and largely avoids oversimplification of life within or outside the movement.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA After supposedly having sex with two boys at a party, Alice's bad reputation is perpetuated through text messages, bathroom graffiti, and other forms of rumor-mongering. For most of the novel, we learn about Alice through what others allege about her; salacious details and Alice's eventual romance with a sympathetic boy distract from the serious issues at the heart of the story.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl