Books on feminism for teens?

[ValancyRedfern]

I would like to recommend some books to my school librarian on feminism. I am drawing a blank on books I would agree with that are written in a way that's accessible to teens. I teach at an 11-16 girls' school. Can you recommend me some fantastic proper feminist books?

Bad Feminist, Roxanne Gay.

Thanks TRHR.
I think the lack of response to this threads says a lot. Nobody seems to be writing accessible books on feminism for teens. The school library has a healthy stock of Juno Dawson books full of trans ideology, but there seems to be a lack of teen feminist literature to offer a different view.

Bad Feminist is just 1.99 on kindle at the moment (not great for your library sorry but just incase anyone else wants to read it)

Girl up by Laura Bates is meant to be aimed at teenagers.

I had a book called feminism for teenagers when I was a teenager. I don’t know if that is still available.

I would be interested in some recommendations too, for DD who is 12

Thank you. I'll look these up.

I've just realised I know two great ones: We Should All be Feminists and Dear Ijeowale by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I'd forgotten them!

I would recommend Helen Lewis'book, Difficult Women.
It's a really good read, charts the history of certain key thinkers and activists. I particularly like the way she includes some women who as well as their good ideas, had some awful ones too! It dispels the myths around purity of thought. DD aged 14 read it recently. It also makes you see how shockingly recent some of the'rights' we take for granted (at our peril) actually are.
She's now reading Jenni Murray's book but hasn't finished yet and I haven't read it either.
Classic feminism - Germaine Greer?

We should all be feminists is great. Short and succinct too.

We're also reading'the Radical Notion' quarterly. Not sure if that would be though. Might have slightly adult language at times.

No problem! Also there are 'feminist books' which aren't necessarily 'about feminism ' if that makes sense, like Michelle Obamas book, Why I'm No Longer Talking to white people about race has some great feminist chapters, or girl / woman/ other, anything by Margaret Atwood

"Things a bright girl can do". It's about the suffragettes. My 14 year old loved it.

How To Be a Woman: Caitlin Moran
I thought that this was brilliant, wished that I had read it in my teens.
Interestingly, I've just been looking at some Amazon reviews, and it's one of those books which just inspire bad reviews... "crass, coarse language" etc.

Thanks everyone. Lots of great recommendations!

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado- Perez:. I would have been very interested to read that as a teenager

I'm reading Difficult Women and would suggest it's teenage friendly. There's a chapter about faking orgasms which all girls should read!

Ones I bought for my teenager, that they read:

Laurie Penny's 'Unspeakable Things'
Florence Given 'Women Don't Owe You Pretty'
bell hooks: 'The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity and Love'

Got the Paris Lees one on order.

Got the Paris Lees one on order.

Given their history I don't think Paris Lees views on feminism are worth reading, and in fact may be actively damaging for a teen.

"What it feels like for a girl" by Lees is a memoir or autobiography, not a book on feminism for 11-16 year olds.

I read The Female Eunuch as a young teen, but it's probably considered sacrilegious and unsuitable these days.

Not strictly feminism, but This Girl's Got Grit is a good read about a girl overcoming the challenges cerebral palsy brings.

How To Be A Woman and Girl Up were both hits with my niece around that age.

Material Girls, Katharine Stock.

It's fiction but The Dictionary of Lost Words is a lovely book which talks about how women's words and experiences were written out of history and dictionaries, and how important it is for women to have words to describe their experiences. There's some material about the suffragettes and suffragists too.

Women and Power by Prof Mary Beard

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Astwood

I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou

The Power by Naomi Alderman

*Atwood, obvs