If you’re a fan of Tammy’s, you may be able to relate to this article in the LA Review of Books! In Growing Up Female, Josephine Wolff  delves into the “thread of pragmatic feminism” in Tamora Pierce’s books, beginning in the very first adventures of Alanna, and continuing in heroines like Daine and Kel.

It’s an intense and cult-ish thing to discover Pierce’s books as a young girl. Pierce is a fantasy writer beloved by many readers who do not consider themselves fantasy fans. This is because, for all their sorcerers and dragons, her books, at their core, are about young women growing up and figuring out who they are: how to be weird and stubborn and heroic and angry, how to deal with getting their periods, how to control their tempers, how to handle jealousy, how to decide whether to sleep with their best friends or their teachers, how to prevent pregnancy, how to navigate romantic relationships with men many years their seniors, how to challenge and defeat men many years their seniors, how to be women who don’t conform to the rigid expectations of their (entirely imaginary!) world and time.

Check it out here!