November 5, 2014

Book Review: Tomboy

tomboyLiz Prince may be female, but she didn’t relate to her “girly girl” side and would rather wear pants, tshirts and a baseball cap all of the time.  She didn’t fit in with the boys really and she didn’t fit in with the girls either.  This book is the story of Liz and growing up as a tom boy – but is told in a graphic novel form.

Each of the chapters has an anecdote of Liz’s life growing up – whether it was being teased for wearing a dress on church day (and getting the school to allow her to wear a shirt and tie instead), being picked on for being a lesbian with her other tom boy friends, being on the boys little league team but the whole team hating her, etc.

An interesting approach to a memoir and one that I related to and enjoyed reading. It being in graphic novel form made it a quick read and funny as well (even if the situations she was in probably were not amusing at the time!)

I received a free copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Growing up, Liz Prince wasn’t a girly girl, dressing in pink tutus or playing Pretty Pretty princess like the other girls in her neighborhood. But she wasn’t exactly one of the guys either, as she quickly learned when her Little League baseball coach exiled her to the outfield instead of letting her take the pitcher’s mound. Liz was somewhere in the middle, and Tomboy is the story of her struggle to find the place where she belonged.

Tomboy is a graphic novel about refusing gender boundaries, yet unwittingly embracing gender stereotypes at the same time, and realizing later in life that you can be just as much of a girl in jeans and a T-shirt as you can in a pink tutu. A memoir told anecdotally, Tomboy follows author and zine artist Liz Prince through her early childhood into adulthood and explores her ever-evolving struggles and wishes regarding what it means to “be a girl.”From staunchly refuting anything she perceived as being “girly” to the point of misogyny, to discovering through the punk community that your identity is whatever you make of it, regardless of your gender, Tomboy is as much humorous and honest as it is at points uncomfortable and heartbreaking.

 

Disney Trip: EPCOT Day 2 Part 2

After hiding out in China to miss out on the rain, we made it to a covered area near the America Pavilion to wait things out again. We decided not to wait in line and once again for the first show see what would happen.  Well, the sky kept getting darker and darker and then an announcement came that the first show was going to be canceled because there was lightning in the area.

The second and third shows were scheduled to go on – and they did.

For the second show it started raining – but fortunately the handicapped area and rows in front of it are under an overhang, so we were OK.  By the end of the show – the middle of the overhang was majorly leaking though!

Show 1, err 2, errr I don’t know… had a setlist of

Where’s the Love
Waiting for This
This Time Around
Watch Over Me
Juliet
Get The Girl Back
MMMBop
If Only

We had the Chase wristbands for the last show of the night and figured we’d end up with the prime handicapped spot right up front. Unfortunately, when I scooted my way up there, I was told that they can only accommodate wheelchairs up there and not ECVs! (Except I was in the same spot on the other side the night before and no one said anything to me?)  So I backed up and still ended up in one of the 4 prime spots – but it would have been nice to actually be able to use the wristband to be a little bit closer!

The setlist for the final show – in the pouring rain – was

You Can’t Stop Us
Tragic Symphony
Thinking Bout Somethin
Been There Before
Minute Without You
MMMBop
Get The Girl Back
Already Home
Long Way To The Top

We had to pick up our bottle of MMMHops at the front of the park (you can’t carry alcohol around in the park with you so it has to be shipped to the front of the park for pick up when you leave) and so did 98 other Hanson fans and EVERY other park goer who had bought alcohol…. Meanwhile everyone leaving EPCOT decided to just cut through the line instead of go around which caused all sorts of drama (Tired, wet, cranky people are not a good mix)

So once again we skipped out on Illuminations and headed back to the hotel as we had a pretty early time to pick up the bus to take us back to the airport 🙁

 

Overall we had a great time but it would have been nice if there was no RAIN.  (We figured there would be a quick shower every day – as “that’s Florida” but this constant rain all night was not what we were expecting and even my friends who live in FL say that it was very abnormal to be happening!)

 

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