More than just a love-struck teen’s story or another classic identity-formation narrative, Thrash makes readers feel what it was like for her as a young southern woman rebelling against the internalized patriarchy enforced by women modeling sisterhood fraught with censorship and assimilation. Yet the book is also the first-person account of what it was like for Thrash to juggle gender and relationship roles in the 90s, struggle with lesbian invisibility in a heteronormative culture, and explode the stereotype of white southern female purity.
At first blush, Honor Girl concerns the agony and ecstasy of first love. The artwork and narrative seem simple, but like any good southern yarn, subtle subtext is abundant. This threat fans Maggie’s flames and her budding relationship heats up just as Libby and company seek her out for malicious retaliation. Co-opting Maggie’s metaphor of a tiger’s survival in the wild, Tammy shames her for competing with Libby It is clear in coded language that girls like Maggie and Erin are predators, and that predators are not welcome at camp. She pulls Maggie aside to wield the passive aggressive southern tactic of ignoring the intimate scene, while warning that overreaching on the rifle range is a sign of arrogance Tammy confides in her that assertiveness threatens sisterhood. All it takes is one private conversation under a blanket on the tennis court that night for Libby and company to fuel the rumor that Bethany and Maggie are making out and the two become overnight pariahs.įirst love’s heady buzz seems doomed one afternoon when lead counselor Tammy catches Maggie and Erin canoodling. Bethany figures it out in matter of minutes and is totally cool with Maggie’s crush. A year Maggie’s junior, Bethany is an outcast at camp: a nationally-ranked tennis champ, she’s by far the sportiest, and the lone Quaker to boot. On impulse, she volunteers for an unpopular class where she finally gets to be alone with Erin…and Bethany.
This surprise combines with her standing-ovation-worthy performance as Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson, making Maggie feel invincible. She draws fear into focus, squeezing anxiety out with every shot, and becomes an instant sharpshooter, much to the chagrin of crack-shot Libby. Through the rifle’s scope, Maggie finds the eye of her emotional maelstrom.
The best brooding place at Bellflower is the gun range. This award isn’t even in Maggie’s periphery: she’s far too busy hiding her adoration for 19-year-old counselor Erin. After mandatory daily Civil War reenactments, girls earn badges for activities like crafts, lacrosse, and canoeing-but the most coveted prize is Honor Girl, the senior camper selected for exhibiting Bellflower’s best. In the early 1990s, Maggie is a fifteen-year-old pre-debutante summering at Kentucky’s Camp Bellflower for Girls, one of the oldest camps in the South. Honor Girl is the story of Rookie writer Maggie Thrash’s first crush in graphic novel form.
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