Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir is an autobiography by Liz Prince. Published in 2014, this illustrated memoir is Prince’s depiction of growing up a tomboy, and what it means to be a girl. The memoir has been well-received and won the 2015 Independent Publisher Book Award for Graphic Novels. It is Prince’s first full-length graphic work. Since the mid-90’s, Prince has been a comic artist and self-publisher. Her comics are frequently published in anthologies, and she draws stories for the Adventure Time series. When she’s not illustrating, she’s a columnist for Razorcake, a punk magazine. Growing up, Liz knows she’s not like most of the young girls around her neighborhood. While the girls her age want to play with dolls and cute toys, Liz wants to be a Jedi and play with swords. She’s never been into dressing up like a princess, wearing cosmetics or talking about magical things like unicorns and faeries. Before she starts school, she doesn’t think about it too much, because she hangs out with boys. When she’s with them, she doesn’t feel unusual. She just feels like herself. However, once Liz starts school, the boys aren’t so keen on hanging out with her anymore. They want to make friends with new boys and be “cool.” Having a girl around all the time makes them feel restricted and held back. For the first time, Liz feels alone, and she realizes there’s a difference between being a boy and a girl. Although Liz tries to make friends with girls at school, they aren’t kind to her. They don’t include her in their games and playtime because she wants to do things like climb trees and run around. They think she’s “weird,” and she’s often stuck home while everyone else is out with friends. Her parents think sending her to summer camp one summer will take her mind off things and help her try new things. However, summer camp only makes things worse, and she feels even more isolated and lonely than before. Liz stops wanting to make friends with girls because she doesn’t see the point. She doesn’t think she’ll ever be one of them, and this only gets more noticeable as she moves to middle school. When Liz eventually enters high school, she has a couple of friends. They’re girls—and boys—who are less “typical” and more free-spirited. They’re more open to Liz being who she is and there’s no pressure to conform to typical “girly” things. However, as Liz gets older, even those friends drift away. They love things like cheerleading and following the fashion so that they can attract partners. Liz, on the other hand, just wants to play video games, listen to music and wear comfortable “boyish” clothes. She plays baseball, but even that doesn’t last long—once she develops, she’s kicked off the team. Things come to a head when her friends start dating, and Liz feels left behind. She feels unattractive and “lesser” because she doesn’t fit the typical mold. She tries to like the things other girls do, like makeup, but it’s not her. Boys and girls start questioning her sexuality, because she dresses, as far as they’re concerned, like a lesbian. Liz is distressed that people make assumptions about her based on something as trivial as fashion and hobbies. She’s bullied badly. Liz knows that, if she wants to be happy, she needs to find new interests—and look for friends outside of the school grounds. She needs to get away from people who think that they know her, and she must explore new opportunities. Instead of feeling browbeaten, Liz feels angry. She sees there’s a gender divide in society, and she doesn’t understand it. Finally, Liz gets her opportunity to move forward. She joins a volunteer program at an organization called Warehouse 21. Here, she learns more about the issues surrounding gender and inequality. Liz discovers what she wants—not to be a boy, but to have the same rights and privileges as boys have. She sees boys as having options to be who they want to be, and girls are told what’s expected of them. Liz wants this to change, and she wonders how she can be a vehicle for that change. Instead of resenting her differences, Liz embraces them. She follows her passions and takes both writing and drawing seriously. She doesn’t care that comic books are typically for “boys”—she wants them to be for everyone. She starts healing from her past experiences of bullying, and she hopes young people can take comfort from her story. As this is a memoir, Liz only considers her own experiences—she doesn’t consider transgender issues, or other gender-related concerns. Her message, rather, is what it means to be a girl, and how girls are the ones who decide what they want it to mean. Tomboy is appropriate from middle-grade upwards—although, there are a couple of curse words.

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Liz Prince

Graphic Novel/Book

Nonfiction

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