Thank you First Second Books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
Marlene loves three things: books, her cool TÃa Ruby and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother, Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and "growing up." That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have "presentable", "good hair".
But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn't understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment, and the much-needed help of Camila and Tia Ruby—she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (5)
This graphic novel has touched my heart. I've had a complicated relationship with my hair for the majority of my life. In elementary school there were kids that would say similar things that the kids in Frizzy have said to the main character, Marlene. Only I didn't straighten my hair, I decided to put in a bun.
You can count on one hand the amount of times that I have worn my hair down at school. Because if I did, I would feel people staring at me.
At 20 years old, I cut of a big chunk of my hair, making me unable to put my hair into a bun. I decided to do that, because I went to a new university and therefore my new classmates would only know me with my hair down. That's when I started to try out products that work well for my hair. Nowadays, I feel more confident wearing my hair down. It's my hair and who would judge something that's a part of me?
Societal beauty standards are unrealistic and straight up ridiculous.
As I'm reviewing Frizzy I'm thinking about how my younger self would've rated this. She would've rated this five stars too, because of how empowering this story is.
Marlene's relationship with her TÃa is such a beautiful one. TÃa Ruby is one of the people she looks up to, because that's the person she wants to be like. Showing her curls with confidence. This graphic novel talks about how it can be hard to unlearn something that has been past down for generations. Every generation has been taught what is "good" and what is "bad" hair. It doesn't make it okay, but it is good that once the realization hits, we can actually try to unlearn it and stop passing it down to our potential children.
Stories like this one matter. They change lives. I'm so happy that Black and Brown kids with curly and kinky hair will read this and gain the confidence to ask a family member to help them with their hair. I hope that when they do, they will walk the hallways with pride, knowing that their hair is beautiful and perfect.
Every type of hair is "good hair".
Frizzy comes out on October 18th 2022. Pre-order it now at your local (indie) bookstore!