Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 02/01/2024 *Starred Review* This accessible offering comes with a bright, cheerful cover with vibrant, eye-catching illustrations of five young women representing various cultures. This engaging artwork belies the serious content of the book, a look at five contemporary misogynistic cultural practices intended to isolate, humiliate, and control women. Chapters begin with a first-person, graphic-novel-format introduction to a representative character invented by the author, in which a teen explains the realities of her life, followed by informative and straightforward commentary. Kaneila lives in Tibet and is banished to a shed in the forest every time she has her period. Mahnoosh lives in Afghanistan and is a bacha posh, a girl who must pose as a boy to defy the Taliban. Jade lives in France and is constantly shamed because others think she's too big; in Mexico City, strange men think nothing of groping Luisa on public transportation. Makena from Kenya learns genital mutilation is in her near future. The evenhanded content explains how each practice evolved and how it affects all women, as well as sharing both grassroots and international movements to ban these types of traditions. Each character does stand up for herself and finds support through other women. This informative and inspiring offering should help teens assert their rights as well. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.