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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
I read this story for a summer reading challenge! I feel bad for writing this big long critical review of a children's book, because I'm so clearly not the target audience. But I had sooo many thoughts while reading this relatively short story:
1. I forgot how many middle grade books are focused around the moral of blind obedience and not breaking the "rules." I get here that it's meant to teach kids to work hard for their goals and also to follow basic rules of society. But it also just feels like in this book it's very much treated as "life isn't fair, just do whatever adults say even if it doesn't make sense or doesn't seem right." But despite the whole story existing because Alanna broke a dumb rule (the rule that girls can't be knights), we never address the basic fact that rules can be wrong and not worth following-- maybe this is just because Alanna is like twelve and can't see the flaws in her environment yet? This could be something that is explored in more depth in later books.
2. The feminism. It feels very much like basic "girl power" feminism that tells girls if they work really really hard, they can be just as good as boys! Which makes sense, I guess, because it is for children who aren't like, well versed in feminist political theory. But personally, I just think that kind of thinking is flawed-- it shouldn't be that women can be "as good as men" if they work really hard, it should be that people across all types of genders have various strengths and weaknesses. It was also weird how adamant the narrative was that Alanna do everything herself, a very "independent woman" attitude. I guess the moral here is that girls can do stuff on their own without boys helping them, but it often just felt like it was saying you shouldn't accept any help at all-- a very "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" conservative type of mentality.
3. The portrayal of gender. Despite this being a "girl disguised as a boy" story, this book is quite cisnormative and doesn't really have a lot to say about Alanna's relationship with gender. With any crossdressing-to-fight story, the central question around gender is often whether the character hates being a women and wants to be a man or if they hate the role women are forced to play in society. There's a lot of really interesting grey area to explore there (I think She Who Became the Sun explores this excellently), but none of that is really explored in this book. Alanna clearly just wants to be a knight and doesn't actually struggle with gender or being a woman (at least right now), and while that's less interesting there's not necessarily anything wrong with that.
However, the mildly transphobic thing to me was that whenever Alanna complains about being a girl, the people around her are just like "WELL YOU WERE BORN A GIRL AND YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE THAT SO JUST SUCK IT UP!!!!!!", like wtf. I'm not expecting anyone in this 1983 fantasy novel to encourage her to go on puberty blockers and transition, but it was so weird that instead of assuring her that being a girl doesn't mean she's inherently less than a boy or that she can still achieve her dreams as a girl, they just are like yeah it sucks, but there's no changing it. Transphobia aside, I just hate the message that being a woman is suffering and agony and you just have to struggle through it as opposed to championing women's equality and fighting for their freedom and acceptance in society.
And of course, the two characters who I'm assuming are her future love interests (both about 6-7 years older than her and meeting her when she's 11, btw) find out she's a girl pretty early on, because we absolutely cannot have any gay shit down the line!
This is a story that could definitely get a lot more complex down the road in terms of its portrayal of feminism and gender, and I would have absolutely loved this book if I read it as a child. As an adult, I found it to be a fun time but disagreed with some of the messaging.
1. I forgot how many middle grade books are focused around the moral of blind obedience and not breaking the "rules." I get here that it's meant to teach kids to work hard for their goals and also to follow basic rules of society. But it also just feels like in this book it's very much treated as "life isn't fair, just do whatever adults say even if it doesn't make sense or doesn't seem right." But despite the whole story existing because Alanna broke a dumb rule (the rule that girls can't be knights), we never address the basic fact that rules can be wrong and not worth following-- maybe this is just because Alanna is like twelve and can't see the flaws in her environment yet? This could be something that is explored in more depth in later books.
2. The feminism. It feels very much like basic "girl power" feminism that tells girls if they work really really hard, they can be just as good as boys! Which makes sense, I guess, because it is for children who aren't like, well versed in feminist political theory. But personally, I just think that kind of thinking is flawed-- it shouldn't be that women can be "as good as men" if they work really hard, it should be that people across all types of genders have various strengths and weaknesses. It was also weird how adamant the narrative was that Alanna do everything herself, a very "independent woman" attitude. I guess the moral here is that girls can do stuff on their own without boys helping them, but it often just felt like it was saying you shouldn't accept any help at all-- a very "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" conservative type of mentality.
3. The portrayal of gender. Despite this being a "girl disguised as a boy" story, this book is quite cisnormative and doesn't really have a lot to say about Alanna's relationship with gender. With any crossdressing-to-fight story, the central question around gender is often whether the character hates being a women and wants to be a man or if they hate the role women are forced to play in society. There's a lot of really interesting grey area to explore there (I think She Who Became the Sun explores this excellently), but none of that is really explored in this book. Alanna clearly just wants to be a knight and doesn't actually struggle with gender or being a woman (at least right now), and while that's less interesting there's not necessarily anything wrong with that.
However, the mildly transphobic thing to me was that whenever Alanna complains about being a girl, the people around her are just like "WELL YOU WERE BORN A GIRL AND YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE THAT SO JUST SUCK IT UP!!!!!!", like wtf. I'm not expecting anyone in this 1983 fantasy novel to encourage her to go on puberty blockers and transition, but it was so weird that instead of assuring her that being a girl doesn't mean she's inherently less than a boy or that she can still achieve her dreams as a girl, they just are like yeah it sucks, but there's no changing it. Transphobia aside, I just hate the message that being a woman is suffering and agony and you just have to struggle through it as opposed to championing women's equality and fighting for their freedom and acceptance in society.
And of course, the two characters who I'm assuming are her future love interests (both about 6-7 years older than her and meeting her when she's 11, btw) find out she's a girl pretty early on, because we absolutely cannot have any gay shit down the line!
This is a story that could definitely get a lot more complex down the road in terms of its portrayal of feminism and gender, and I would have absolutely loved this book if I read it as a child. As an adult, I found it to be a fun time but disagreed with some of the messaging.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I know understand why Alanna shaped so many childhoods.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is etched onto my soul. It's impossible for me to review with any objectivity.
Given some elements, it's not something I'd recommend nowadays without caveats. One of Alanna's love interestsand her eventual husband meets her when she is 10 and he is 17. Definitely something to talk to your kids about if they pick up this book.
Given some elements, it's not something I'd recommend nowadays without caveats. One of Alanna's love interests
Product of its time but a great, nostalgic read from childhood nonetheless.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
medium-paced
Kind of a fun fantasy, presented simply and straightforwardly and thus probably good for younger readers (I'm guessing around 10-11ish?). Alanna likes to fight. Her brother (whose name I have ALREADY FORGOTTEN) wants to do magic stuff. They live in Your Standard High Fantasy land with prepackaged Tolkien derivative Euro-ness. So, it's kinda like an Age of Chivalry thing - the main thrust of the book is Alanna cross-dressing as a boy so she can become a knight! She goes to... uh, knight's school? Hogwarts for Knights. There, she becomes a page (a freshman?), looking up to the squires (sophomores/juniors?). There is some bullying (mostly she bullies this jerk kid). There is a teenage thief king, a la Rufio from Hook.
I mean, it was fine. I didn't love it. It reads very easily, so you finish it quickly, but I feel like giving this to a kid is like, okay, meh, here you go, girl power to you. Inoffensive, but also milquetoast.
I mean, it was fine. I didn't love it. It reads very easily, so you finish it quickly, but I feel like giving this to a kid is like, okay, meh, here you go, girl power to you. Inoffensive, but also milquetoast.