As a young girl, I thought I was a tomboy—or I wanted to be one, because the image of a “normal” girl was far too pink and frothy and shallow for my tastes. For me, being a tomboy was less about being boy-like than being unable to claim the markers of femininity. As a historian of women and girls, I wondered how young women saw their futures in this modernizing America, with its True Women and New Women and the opening of advanced education. Did tomboys grow into the rebels who changed the world? Or, like the tomboys in so many fictional stories, did they renounce their assertive sense of self upon marriage and motherhood?
American Tomboys is my answer to the question “when did it become a good thing for a girl to behave like a boy?” Although “tomboy” had been around since the 1500s, it did not become a term for girls until the Civil War era, and then only in the United States. After reading over a hundred diaries and memoirs, as well as juvenile fiction, plays, songs, and newspaper features, I came to see that the tomboy who emerged in the mid-nineteenth century was both a transgressive and conservative figure, depending on the perspective of the reader. We know a tomboy when we see one, but at the same time her identity is ambiguous—and therein lies the power of the tomboy.
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This is the story of four sisters coming of age, but readers know that it’s really a book about Jo—the tomboy at its center. Jo March launched the tomboy as a quintessentially American girl icon, and Little Women launched the juvenile publishing market for girls. It remains one of the most beloved books in the world. I read it every year and always come away with something different.
I’ve assigned this graphic memoir to college students, given it to young nieces, and sent a copy to my mom. Prince tells the familiar story of being identified by others as a tomboy and struggling to understand what that means and whether or not she accepts the term. It’s funny, poignant, and smart.
Comedian Jessi Klein explores the nexus of American femininity and female masculinity in this hilarious memoir. I particularly love her pithy statements on how commercial culture sells a somewhat toxic form of femininity that can make even the most female-identified person reconsider their gender. She cuts to the heart of the tensions of growing up in a culture that places gender on a spectrum but continues to market it as an extreme binary.
Gilder’s memoir of growing up in the 1860s as a boyish girl will seem remarkably contemporary to those who equate nineteenth-century girls and women with corsets and overly important etiquette. Gilder writes about baseball, pranks, and various attempts to look like a boy, confirming an instinctual tomboy identity even at a time when females could not legally wear pants.
This one is for girls who want to know more about tomboys in the here and now. Davis essentially asks “how did we get to this time of transgender and nonbinary identity?” She interrogates the term “tomboy” as a way of understanding how our understanding of gender norms has changed and remained unchanged—at the same time.
5,309 authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about tomboys, comics, and comedians.
We think you will like The Billboard Bride, The Academy, and Louisa May Alcott: Little Women if you like this list.
From Angela's list on the best books to read – over and over again.
This is a sweet romance about a young woman who finds out minutes before her wedding that her fiancé has been unfaithful. She climbs up to the top of a billboard and refuses to come down until her sleazeball future ex-husband climbs up and apologizes. Trouble is, he doesn’t, and the task is left to the young man who lives next door to literally talk her down. This is a fun, quick-read romance that everyone should enjoy. Monica has a quick wit that I thoroughly enjoyed and a sweet biblical message about love and forgiveness.
From Anna's list on the best romance books featuring tomboys.
A somewhat different kind of setting awaits readers in The Academy. It depicts a dystopia in space that resembles Victorian times quite strikingly. Pretty awesome combination, huh? The heroine infiltrates an all-boys school to become a spaceship pilot and navigate the stars. Only to discover even the galaxy is not big enough to run from love.
From Anna's list on the best romance books featuring tomboys.
Why I recommend this book that every romance-head can recite cover to cover? Because I could not possibly take myself seriously as an author if I didn't. Seriously, Jo is a tomboy legend. She does not even need to get dressed up as a boy to show us who’s boss.