Review: Just Girls by Margaret Finders

           

In order to expand my knowledge of literacy theory, I decided to do some additional reading on the subject. The first book that I chose to read for this purpose was Just Girls: Hidden Literacies and Life in Junior High by Margaret Finders. For this particular study, Finders followed primarily five girls “in their transition from a self-contained sixth-grade classroom into a traditional junior high setting” (2). These five girls belonged to two different social groups in the junior high. Angie, Lauren, and Tiffany are considered “social queens” while Cleo and Dottie are “tough cookies”. The “social queens” are described as the popular girls while the “tough cookies” are considered the good students while also not active participants in the social aspects of junior high. The primarily focus of following these five women for Finders is to find more about the literacy habits of the junior high aged female.  What is really interesting about focusing on these two specific groups is that their literacy activities are completely different. For example, the “social queens” live for the opportunity to sign yearbooks for those deemed worthy to have this privilege. On the flip side, the “tough cookies” do not get to participate in that activity because their families cannot afford a luxury like a yearbook that will only have the standard picture of their daughters. Finders also delves into these girl’s literacy identities. For example, Angie is the stereotypical “smart” one amongst the “social queens”. Therefore, Angie not only has to keep her grades up, but she has the responsibility to sell her papers to her friends in order to keep her social status. Cleo, one of the tough cookies, grew up in an environment full of books which allowed her to escape her life.

Finders does an excellent job of showing how all five of the girls interact differently with literacy. It also makes me want to explore this genre of girl literacy further. After all, females have a much different view of literacy than males do, which largely develops in junior high. Since females have always been stereotyped with being "Chatty Cathys", I would love to see if these conversations are tied to their ideas of literacies. If you are interested at all in literacy or junior high studies, I highly recommend checking this book out. In fact, I would love to see a more modernized version of this book that includes how these junior high school girls expand their literacies from the use of the Internet or social media. I would also love to see a book where Finders return to these five girls later to see how their ideas of literacy has changed or stayed the same.If you know of any studies in that field, please let me know.

Works Cited

Finders, Margaret J. Just Girls: Hidden Literacies and Life in Junior High. New York: Teachers College, 1997. Print