''Honor Girl'' is a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

written and illustrated by

Maggie Thrash Margaret Thrash is an American writer of young adult fiction and memoirist, best known for her graphic novel memoir '' Honor Girl''. ''Honor Girl'', Thrash's first book, was published by Candlewick Press in 2015. The book describes her early lif ...

. The book was first published in 2015 through

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. Sebastian Walker launched Walker Books from ...

Development and publication history

Thrash wrote ''Honor Girl'' over the span of two years. While their previous experience was in writing prose rather than graphic novels, a roommate encouraged them to use the latter form for this particular story. Thrash was interested in the possibilities offered by depicting themself visually and began practising drawing so that they could pursue the graphic format. Candlewick Press published ''Honor Girl'' on September 8, 2015.

Synopsis

''Honor Girl'' is the story of writer's Maggie Thrash's first crush at an all-girls summer camp in Kentucky in 2000.

Reception and awards

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' called the story "sweet and obsessive and dead on," and found that "Thrash shows an impressive grasp of the language of comics." In its starred review, ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' called the book a "luminescent memoir not to be missed." ''Honor Girl'' also received starred reviews from ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'', ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' and ''

'', and was an official "

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and H ...

Selection" for Fall 2015. ''Honor Girl'' was a finalist for the 2016 ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize in the Graphic Novel/Comics category.

References

2015 graphic novels 2015 LGBT-related literary works American memoirs Autobiographical comics Autobiographical graphic novels Graphic novels about women Feminist comics Lesbian non-fiction books LGBT-related graphic novels LGBT autobiographies 2010s LGBT novels Lesbian-related comics Graphic novels set in the United States LGBT literature in the United States Graphic novels set in the 2000s {{2010s-LGBT-novel-stub