Dress Coded

"Full of humor, rage, and heart . . . A triumphant ending shows how systemic change can be made when girls stand together. Absolutely necessary for tweens and teens . . . Straight fire." 

Gr 6-8--When eighth grader Molly Fisher becomes fed up with her school's unfair enforcement of the dress code policy, she starts a podcast in protest. Through interviews she conducts with her classmates, Molly educates her listeners (and readers) on how the dress code is enforced almost exclusively through young women, and disproportionately affects those who have developed sooner or more than their classmates. Outside of school, her family is in crisis after they discover that Molly's brother has been selling tobacco vape pods to younger kids on the bus. The issues are timely without seeming trendy, and Firestone's crackling writing makes every day in Molly's life interesting to read about--even one of the most boring events on Earth, a school board meeting. By painting such a full picture of Molly's life, Firestone shows how difficult it can be to simply exist in the world of middle school. VERDICT Hand this first purchase to blossoming activists of every cause; this is a deeply, often scathingly honest work of modern fiction. --Chance Lee Joyner, Haverhill Public Library, MA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

When Olivia Bonaventura, a girl in Molly Frost's eighth grade class, is dress coded for wearing a tank top with spaghetti straps, it results in the class camping trip being canceled. Everyone blames Olivia, but she'd only removed her sweatshirt to cover a period blood stain on her white jeans. It's the latest example of the school's unfair rules, which target young women ("the girls with boobs and butts, the prettiest girls, and the girls with long legs") and fail to account for socioeconomic and other circumstances that can make the code challenging to adhere to. Molly begins Dress Coded: a Podcast, where students share their experiences and together try to challenge the rules. As the students protest, Molly learns the power of her voice and finds the strength to handle hardships at home, namely her brother's vaping addiction and dealing of vape pods to middle schoolers. With timely, important anecdotes that ring painfully true, Firestone (The Unlikelies) cuts to the heart of the damage that dress coding can inflict. Chapters alternate between podcasts and letters that Molly writes in this deeply satisfying, variously inclusive journey with a wonderfully flawed main character. Ages 10-up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (July)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

"A much-needed reminder that certain fights are worth fighting, that while bears of all types may prowl unsettlingly close, fear can be faced down and victories achieved, especially with strength in numbers." —The New York Times

"Timely, engaging, and full of heart." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Full of humor, rage, and heart . . . A triumphant ending shows how systemic change can be made when girls stand together. Absolutely necessary for tweens and teens . . . Straight fire." —Booklist, starred review

"Crackling . . . Deeply, often scathingly honest." —School Library Journal, starred review

"With timely, important anecdotes that ring painfully true, Firestone cuts to the heart of the damage that dress coding can inflict . . . [A] deeply satisfying, variously inclusive journey with a wonderfully flawed main character." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"With a perfect mix of friendship, humor, and girl power, Dress Coded is a book readers need." —Stacy McAnulty, bestselling author of The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

"Dress Coded is a compelling, subversive, emotionally astute story of the pernicious effects of everyday sexism and of the revolutionary potential when girls decide to fight back. An electrifying ode to the power of standing up and standing together." —Anne Ursu, author of The Real Boy and The Lost Girl