This is a book with an almost exclusively male cast of characters. Some of the books that seem to be the most male-dominated actually have the best pro-female messages. I dare say that the female characters and attitudes portrayed in the Heinlein juveniles have a stronger impact on the reader for being in the background, for being presented in a “of course that’s the way it is” unquestioning sort of way.Īnd overt appearances can be deceiving. The female characters don’t have to be the main character to have an impact, and a powerful one. The women and girls in Heinlein’s books are always good in math, better than the men and boys-none are of the Barbie-math-is-hard type.īy nearly every boy main character is a female character who is stronger, smarter, and more skilled. There are women pilots, numerous engineers, researchers, doctors, soldiers, explorers, and a description Heinlein uses frequently, whizzes in math. I credit my parents for never trying to stop me from doing anything I set out to do, and I credit what I got from Heinlein’s books, particularly the juveniles with their ingrained attitudes about the roles and abilities of women.īehind those adventuresome boys in the juveniles are a wealth of women playing roles of strength. I went on to work in an area that, when I started, was almost entirely male-dominated. I took Heinlein’s views of women to heart-I took the math classes, did the farm work, roofed buildings, worked on my own car, went to college in engineering, where I was the only female in my engineering classes for two years.  I never felt that these stories couldn’t be about me, or that I could be the one having the adventures in space and on the frontier worlds. As a young girl reading the Heinlein juveniles, stories mainly about boys and young men and their adventures in space, I never felt excluded. I started reading Heinlein when I was eight or nine years old, at a time in the 1960s when it was still assumed that girls and women would play certain roles and take certain jobs-be secretaries, not engineers, study home economics, not calculus and physics. Yes, I do believe he was, but not in a bad way. The most frequent question I’m asked by women and girls reading my site is, “Was Heinlein a sexist?” I’ve been running a Heinlein website since 1997. My portion of the discussion was on the older women characters in the juvenile novels as role models This article is based on a presentation given by me at Ba圜on 2003, May 24, 2003, in a panel discussion by Heinlein Society members on Heinlein’s Women characters. Heinlein’s Women: Role Model Characters in the Heinlein Juveniles Full List of Heinlein Society Items to Shop.Donate and Receive The Ensign’s Prize Books.

Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein

Granted, she’s never been great at any of those things, but that’s a problem for Future Yami. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.Īfter being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don’t fall in love. Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist * Goodreads Finalist for Best Teen Book of the Year * Walter Honor Award Winner * Pura Belpré Honor BookĪ sharply funny and moving debut novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school, while falling in love and learning to celebrate her true self. Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.National Book Award Finalist * William C. So she'll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do? If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. Either way, Yami isn't going to make the same mistake again. The thing is, it's hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. Granted, she's never been great at any of those things, but that's a problem for Future Yami. But at least here no one knows she's gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.Īfter being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don't fall in love.   National Book Award Finalist * William C.

Hotel Florida by Amanda Vaill