Watch Us Rise

Watch Us Rise is the story of Chelsea and Jasmine, two students at a progressive high school in New York, and their close friends Isaac and Nadine. As part of the progressive ethos of the school, the students must take part in after school clubs; Jasmine is involved in the drama ensemble and Chelsea in the poetry club. When events in the school suggest that it may not be as progressive as it thinks, the two girls decide to form a club of their own, focused on women's rights. The blog that they produce 'Write like a Girl', soon has the whole school buzzing, though not necessarily in a positive way. The authors use the blog extremely effectively in the book, allowing them to seamlessly incorporate poetry, opinion pieces and feminist biographies without taking away from the story. This book will make you want to stand up and cheer and also break down and cry. Jasmine is dealing with the terminal diagnosis of her father, the constant pressure to lose weight from her mother, and the realisation that she may like Isaac as more than a friend, while Chelsea's passion and volatility gets her into trouble and she finds herself in a love triangle. There's a very poignant passage where Chelsea buys T-Shirts for a protest and honestly doesn't think about the fact that Jasmine won't fit into any of them. The emotion and frustration Jasmine feels in this moment is so real and raw, while highlighting the fact that even people like Chelsea, who everyone would see as the pinnacle of feminism, makes mistakes. I liked that both girls weren't perfect, sometimes making poor decisions, because this made them not only more real but also more relatable. The book could and should spark conversations, it is something that should be in every school and library and I thoroughly recommend it. An ode to feminism, sprinkled with a collection of powerful poems and articles. An emotional and engaging YA book with strong feminist themes of empowerment and activism. A stirring and unputdownable read about what it means to be a woman today. Perfect for fans of Moxie and The Hate U Give. 349 pages / Ages 14+ / Reviewed by Lucy Georgeson, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+

Jasmine and Chelsea, along with their wider circle of friends, are students at a seemingly progressive New York high school. In common with all other students, they each attend an extra-curricular social justice club and equality is held up to be a guiding principle of the school. Yet despite these lofty aims, Jasmine and Chelsea become all too aware that racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination are very much alive and well in their school community. In response, they decide to set up their own women's rights group and blog and they harness their own creative talents and interests to spread their message of activism and equality throughout the school community and beyond, with phenomenal (and sometimes unforseen) results. The voices of the two narrators reach out from the pages of the book and draw the reader into this search for empowerment, personal growth and social change. You cannot fail to be swept along by the passion and commitment of these young women as well as by the power of their creativity, in particular Chelsea's poems which are scattered throughout the story, adding a beautiful and reflective change of pace each time. This is an inspiring story that tackles some very big issues, but these are consistently set against the backdrop of everyday teenage life, to which a young reader will be able to relate. Highly recommended for the teenage reader! 349 pages / Ages 13+ / Reviewed by Emily Marcuccilli, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+