The Feminist Agenda of Jemima Kincaid
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A novel about friendship, feminism, and the knotty complications of tradition and privilege, perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Stephanie Perkins.
Jemima Kincaid is a feminist, and she thinks you should be one, too. Her private school is laden with problematic traditions, but the worst of all is prom. The guys have all the agency; the girls have to wait around for "promposals" (she's speaking heteronormatively because only the hetero kids even go). In Jemima's (very opinionated) opinion, it's positively medieval.
Then Jemima is named to Senior Triumvirate, alongside superstar athlete Andy and popular, manicured Gennifer, and the three must organize prom. Inspired by her feminist ideals and her desire to make a mark on the school, Jemima proposes a new structure. They'll do a Last Chance Dance: every student privately submits a list of crushes to a website that pairs them with any mutual matches.
Meanwhile, Jemima finds herself embroiled in a secret romance that she craves and hates all at once. Her best friend, Jiyoon, has found romance of her own, but Jemima starts to suspect something else has caused the sudden rift between them. And is the new prom system really enough to extinguish the school's raging dumpster fire of toxic masculinity?
Filled with Kate Hattemer's signature banter, this is a fast-paced and thoughtful tale about the nostalgia of senior year, the muddle of modern relationships, and how to fight the patriarchy when you just might be part of the patriarchy yourself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jemima Kincaid "white. And straight. And wealthy" sees the world through a feminist lens: prom at Chawton, her fancy private high school, is a heteronormativity fest, and she finds the annual Powderpuff football game problematic. Jemima's a member of the Senior Triumvirate, the three students who run school government, and she has a great idea: turn the senior prom into a "Last Chance Dance," where people submit their choices for a date and are matched when the picks overlap. What could go wrong? Plenty, of course, given all the other factors in play. Jemima has a crush on the Triumvirate Chair, "golden-haired and broad-backed" big man on campus Andy; elections are coming up, and the only candidates for Chair are Andy's lunkhead brother and last-minute candidate Jiyoon, Jemima's best friend. "Asian American" Jiyoon comes from a working-class background, and she's mad that Jemina is blind to the idea that someone like her could have that much power at Chawton. Hattemer (Here Comes Trouble) hits timely notes: Jemima is a loud-and-proud feminist, but what does her white privilege blind her to? When she judges the way other girls dress, is she noting unfair body and dress standards, or is she slut shaming? And where does sex and attraction fit in? Jemima finds out that nothing relationships, feminism, school power arrangements, not even the tried-and-true binary of virginity is as simple as she thought, and readers will find her journey into ambiguity enjoyable and thought-provoking. Ages 14 up.
