Sunday Reading- Liz Prince is my hero edition.

Good afternoon!

It has been a wonderful and busy week over at Super Strength Health. I celebrated three years of dating my very best friend (!!!) , I began collaborating with my friend Melissa on a cookbook (!!!), I chilled by a river, I sat in a sauna, and I rode a rollercoaster.  I swear, I can feel summer winding down (I know, I’m sorry, don’t be mad at me!) and as the days grow shorter I can feel myself preparing to buckle down and work. For now, I basically eat, drink, and breathe my health coaching practice, my recipe formulation, and my writing. It feels good and I cannot wait to go into the holiday season with such clarity of intention.  I’m working my ass off, and it’s hard, but it’s a gift. I feel like I’m right where I need to be.

This week, my Sunday reading is going to be entirely dedicated to the incredible book Tomboy, written and illustrated by my dear friend Liz Prince.

First and foremost, I am so inspired by Liz. She is constantly cranking out comics, even when she is busy with other stuff, even when she is working on other assignments, even when she is on vacation. (this is evidenced by the fact that she visited Oakland during the production of Tomboy-BECAUSE SHE WAS ON TOUR FOR ANOTHER BOOK- and spent her time between speaking engagements working on new pages. Think about that guys! Incredible. ) She has a few books, a bunch of zines, and a whole lot of guest spots for other comics- all of which you should buy here.

Tomboy is brand spanking new (it comes out in September, actually!) and I was lucky enough to get a pre-release copy to review.  After fighting my roommates to get the first sneak peak, i brought a cup of tea and the book to my shack and spent my Friday night reading the whole thing in just a few hours. I laughed, uproariously, multiple times, which I had expected. What I didn’t expect was that I would cry a little, too.

Tomboy is about growing up feeling uncertain about your body. In Liz’s case, she did not want to be a girl- and although there are many tales of trans people that start out this way, that was not the case for Liz. Liz was (and is!) a Tomboy, and throughout the book she navigates what that means.

Through the story I got to watch Liz blossom out of childhood (where she refused-and I mean REFUSED to wear a dress) and into the horrors of adult-hood, complete with boobs and a booty that she didn’t have any use for or know what to do with. She talks about the comments from other people, having crushes on boys as a tomboy, and most relatably, deep insecurity she experienced about her changing body.

Ultimately, this is a story of triumph. Liz uses her experiences to teach us that HELL YEAH she can think dresses are bullshit, not be into a feminine presentation, be all about crushes on dudes, have a big booty, kick ass AND take names, and no one else gets to tell her otherwise. As the book crescendos we watch Liz’s confidence grow, and as a person who is hell bent on self acceptance, I find this book to be a total victory for body positivity.

Every time someone publicly has self-esteem, the world gets a new role model. Although I’ve known Liz for a long time, reading Tomboy helped me realize that she is one of mine.

(So, go buy the book for goodness sakes!)