SuitabookJust girls
Rachel Gold
- Reading
- A parent could read alongside the book, pausing after the slur, the characters’ responses and any protest or relationship scenes. Invite the reader to discuss whose perspective is centred and what remains unresolved.
- Themes
- Solidarity and self-definition: Tucker claims to be the rumoured trans girl to stop finger-pointing, while Ella is affected by a slur apparently directed at her. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Institutions and prejudice: The protagonists encounter new rules and old prejudices at university, alongside protests and political conversations. The novel examines how institutional settings and social attitudes affect young women navigating university life.
- Relationships and adulthood: Tucker and Ella become friends during their first year, while the book also includes relationships and sex. The story includes relationship and sexual material as part of its movement into university adulthood.
- Worth knowing
- Before reading, consider whether the reader would welcome a story involving transphobic hostility, a slur, fear, protests, sexual content and discussions of gender, sexuality and institutional prejudice.