Does My Body Offend You?
PEN/Faulkner Award Longlist
Target YA Book Club Pick
New York Public Library Best Books of 2022
Books All Young Georgians Should Read
A timely story of two teenagers who discover the power of friendship, feminism, and standing up for what you believe in, no matter where you come from. A collaboration between two gifted authors writing from alternating perspectives, this compelling novel shines with authenticity, courage, and humor.
TRADE REVIEWS:
Kirkus Reviews: Two girls launch a movement to protest their Florida high school’s dress code. When 15-year-old Malena shows up at school without a bra, she’s not trying to look sexy or attract attention. On the contrary, Malena just has a painful sunburn and is quietly trying to get by after moving from Puerto Rico, which was recently devastated by Hurricane María. Yet, to Malena’s utter humiliation, an assistant principal scrutinizes her chest, then orders her to cover her nipples by putting panty liners beneath her shirt. While she’s in the bathroom, senior Ruby overhears Malena crying while attaching the panty liners and, after peeking into the stall without permission (behavior that crosses boundaries and is not clearly called out), convinces her not to do it. After noncompliance lands Malena in detention, she’s initially upset that Ruby encouraged her to defy directions. Despite her good intentions, Ruby is later rightfully called out for overstepping in other ways, such as acting like a White savior and needing to be a better listener. Told through Ruby’s and Malena’s alternating first-person viewpoints, the plot unfolds thoughtfully after Ruby and Malena team up to challenge the dress code. The book includes important discussions about how race and body type impact the way clothes are perceived as well as about sexual assault and the wrongful shaming of victims. An ultimately heartwarming story about activism and allyship, learning when to speak up and when to listen.
Publishers Weekly: Living in Puerto Rico, 15-year-old Malena Malavé Rosario was a “natural leader” and “doer”; now, though, stuck in Florida with her mother following Hurricane María, she’s a “spectator,” missing home and her father. When a bad sunburn makes it painful for her to wear a bra, and school administration calls her in for attending class without one, she’s mortified—and initially taken aback as another student tries to come to her aid. White senior Ruby is low on personal boundaries but genuinely eager to help; having moved from Seattle to care for her grandmother, she knows what it’s like to feel out of place. The two begin organizing protests against the sexist dress code, sweeping up fellow students, including Malena’s cousin Carlos, a star baseball player with a crush on Ruby. Cuevas (Salty, Bitter, Sweet) and Marquardt (Flight Season) alternate first-person chapters, subtly taking up hot-button issues—not just unfair dress codes, but varying judgments for “a curvy brown girl” and “a twiggy white girl,” sexual assault, and the arrayed privileges and expectations the characters bring to the situation—in an energetic, thought-provoking story of friendship and girl power.
School Library Journal: This pitch-perfect character study, delivered by alternating narrators, explores intersectionality and feminism through the lens of a friendship hastily built on big ideas and even bigger blind spots. Both Ruby and Malena are newcomers to a high school in Florida. Ruby is white and hails from Seattle, overshadowed by her activist older sister. When Malena, a Puerto Rican transplant whose life was turned upside down by Hurricane Maria, is disciplined by an assistant principal for not wearing a bra to school, Ruby encourages her to fight back. Readers might think they know where this is going as the two team up to protest the dress code, but they will be surprised: Cuevas and Marquardt unravel the harm of white privilege and explore, not victory, but failure. They break down stereotypes in other characters as well, such as baseball god Carlos and the principal Dr. Hardaway. Readers witness the nuances of the reticent, then impassioned and implosive, friendship between the two narrators. The support that Ruby receives from her grandmother and Malena from her cousins, and the art-making that ensues, which incorporates the experiences and expressions of the entire school community, play a significant role in the healing and repair of relationships in the aftermath of the failed crusade. It includes surprising plot structure with fresh, bona fide dialogue. VERDICT Young activists will find creative ways to protest and will discover tools to navigate cross-cultural relationships while enjoying an authentic teen tale of romance, friendship, school culture, and body shaming.–Sara Lissa Paulson
ENDORSEMENTS:
"Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt's DOES MY BODY OFFEND YOU? is a fantastic and necessary novel that is written with a unique mix of compassion and fire, always challenging us to think about how to create a better world while never forgetting to exhibit empathy for everyone involved in the messy process of creating change. And most importantly, it's full of humor and heart." - Abdi Nazemian, author of Stonewall Honor book Like a Love Story
“Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt bravely remind us that women's bodies--no matter the shape or size--are not to be policed. Feminist at its core, DOES MY BODY OFFEND YOU? will inspire readers to find their voice and spark a revolution.”
Tami Charles, New York Times bestselling author
About this book:
For the last two years, it’s been one of my greatest joys to work on this project with a person I love, respect and trust. Marie is more than my cowriter, she is my big sister. Not by blood, but by choice.
Our collaboration began in 2012, as critique partners and soon grew into the deep friendship that led to this book. Today, it is both trilling and terrifying to send our project out in the world after carrying it so close to our hearts for so long.
Does My Body Offend You? was inspired by voices of protest all across the world. Girls everywhere are speaking up for women’s rights and the rights of historically marginalized communities. It prompted us to explore themes of feminism, allyship and student protest from the point of view of two girls, one brown from a humble Latinx family, and one white from a privileged upbringing.
I am so proud of what Marie and I have accomplished together and hope this book will serve as a bridge, leading to many positive, constructive conversations.
I also want to give some encouragement to aspiring authors, especially historically marginalized voices, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers: never to give up on your publishing dreams. I know it’s hard. My first manuscript was rejected 200 times by agents. A second, agented manuscript, didn’t sell.
There were so many times over the years I thought of giving up. There were so many times I thought there was no room in this industry for writers like me—Spanish-speaking brown Island girls raised in el campo in Puerto Rico. There were also times I felt like I wasn’t enough.
It took me 7 years of trying (hard), to get a book deal. And not a day went by that I wasn’t aware of my odds — abysmal.
In 2019, only 225—out of 3,716 total children’s books—were written or illustrated by Latinx creators, according to the CCBC. That's right, 225 children's books to represent the experiences of over 52 million Latinx people living in the U.S.
I kept going, despite the odds, because millions of kids need our stories, now more than ever. They need to feel seen and validated. Stories are power.
So here is my advice to you writer: after the next rejection, dry your tears and have another bowl of ice cream. It’s okay. You are not alone. Get a good night sleep and the next morning wake up and write something—write something for the pure joy of writing. Because someone has been waiting for your story.
Con mucho, mucho amor,
Mayra