Weird Girl Fiction Books
Readily, you reach into your tote and pull out a soft copy of one of these modern and not-so-modern classics to intimidate his overperformative act. I bring you the 13 best beach reads for your weird girl soul. Don't forget to reapply your SPF, girlie, these are real page-turners:
Kitten Tits by Holly Wilson
In Holly Wilson's Kitten Tits, you will follow Molly, a rambunctious 10-year-old girl and navigate her journey through girlhood by way of visceral, sugar-rushed poetry that reads like a body horror ballet. Divine, queasy, and absolutely wild.
A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan
Beth Morgan delivers an absurdist psychosexual death spiral for the social media age. In A Touch of Jen, you will dive deep into the minds and lives of a couple engaging in a parasocial relationship with an influencer, not too far off from our modern landscape, until she manifests into their reality, both upright and horizontally.
Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda
Stride your leather-covered ass into the gritty, genderf*cked, swirl of Latina rage and girl gang shenanigans in Dahlia de la Cera's Reservoir Bitches. It's Reservoir Dogs meets feminism, with enough biting humor and ruthless clarity to remind you that you have more power than you think.
The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste by Jane & Michael Stern
If you're a staunch believer in the philosophy of the coveted John Waters, "To understand bad taste, one must have very good taste." Then, rummaging through the cursed thrift store that is The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste is just the thing to read while baking in the sun. The Sterns take you on a ride in a tribute to everything from kitsch to cultural cringe. Embrace your inner caftan aunt, who knows what's up.
Rouge by Mona Awad
Miss Mona Awad moisturizes your skin and glosses your lips while exploring otherworldly portals and mother wounds in this gothic beauty horror.
Belly Up by Rita Bullwinkel
A collection of short stories takes you on a tour of the absurd, bizarro, and melancholic as you meet talking corpses, lonely girls, and take on metaphysical grief with a side of sardonic. If you want your fiction like the oysters percolating in the tide pool inches away, you will fall in love with Belly Up.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
The ferality of motherhood is turned up to full throttle in Nightbitch. This satire explores feminine power through rage, hunger, and fur. Our main character, Mother, is Rachel Yoder's personal avatar in this ode to domestic reinvention.
Goddess of Filth by V. Castro
V. Castro doesn't give us just another possession story. You will follow a group of Latina teens as they navigate Catholic guilt, rage, and reclamation. Scare off the preformative asshole eyeing you on the beach while summoning ancient goddesses and scratch off half of your summer plans in one read.
Weird Fucks by Lynne Tillman
Minimalist sleaze is what can only describe Lyne Tillman's world of existential hussydom as you read about the nihilistic take the many different lovers and cities of our protagonist in Weird Fucks. It's not about the desire for our uniquely unnamed main character; it's about watching yourself not.
Hard Copy by Fien Veldman
Let's keep it a buck; you'll never see a printer the same way again. And depending on just how weird you are, you won't even care.
The Doloriad by Missouri Williams
Enter a post-apocalyptic world full of deformed messiahs and grotesque semi-Catholic horror. The end of civilization as we know it is told in gorgeous biblical fever that might take you back to The Lord of the Flies. I mean, if you went to eighth grade in hell.
Wetlands by Charlotte Roche
The world of Wetlands is a gross combination of a feminist manifesto and an anti-shame manifesto through the eyes of Helen, a teenage girl obsessed with her changing body...but not obsessed enough with a bottle of Monistat. Oh well, I guess it's just one of those things you learn along the musty, embarrassing road that is girlhood.
And Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
A queer biology student living abroad in a moldy house finds herself in a relationship that blurs the lines between the sensual and surreal. Cerebrally soaked, Paradise Rot is a dreamy exploration of the body and boundaries — perfect for the moist sea air.
Happy beach hopping and man scaring, my delightfully odd babes!
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Refinery29
4 days ago
- Refinery29
Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street Went From the Banned-Books List to the Opera
Sandra Cisneros, one of America's greatest writers, says that up until a few years ago, she was over speaking about her 1984 novel, ' The House on Mango Street.' What started as an autobiographical book that she says she wrote during the 'most powerless time' in her life became a work of fiction as Cisneros drew on the harsh realities her students experienced living their lives outside of her classroom across working-class neighborhoods in Chicago. Countless people saw themselves in Esperanza, the book's Latina protagonist, and her Chicago neighbors, making 'The House on Mango Street' a huge success with more than 7 million copies sold, translated to over 25 languages, and becoming a longstanding fixture on required-reading lists — as well as banned-book lists — in U.S. grade schools and universities. As Cisneros published other books and still works on new ones, she never expected 'The House on Mango Street' to have the long life it has had. 'I was kind of tired of talking about my first born. I'm proud of it, but it's not my favorite book,' Cisneros tells Refinery29 Somos. But her classic novel gained a new life when Grammy-nominated composer Derek Bermel approached Cisneros nearly 10 years ago with the idea to collaborate on turning 'The House on Mango Street' into an opera. Excitedly, Cisneros accepted. Together, they co-wrote a libretto — the script of an opera — and brought the characters to life for the first time through songs, orchestral arrangements, and scenes on a stage. On Friday, July 18, the operatic debut of 'The House on Mango Street' drew nearly 1,000 people from across the country and outside the U.S. for its world premiere at Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York. 'I had so much fun with this collaboration, and I feel grateful that the book is doing its spirit work and not just in Latino communities. I get letters from people across the globe. It's very shocking, energizing, and confirming,' Cisneros shares. 'I don't know if it will do its spirit work after I'm gone, in 100 years, or 10 years, or 20 years, but it's doing the work it needs to do at this time in history, and I'm very happy that the work is speaking to people whose lives are like the protagonists and who feel it gives them hope. That's what we need to do in times that are dark.' ' "I was a little worried about this opera coming out at this time with this administration, but I believe, and have to trust, that it's opening at the right time." Sandra Cisneros ' Against the backdrop of today's conversations around mass deportations, the continued hypersexualization of Latinas, and the gentrification of Black and brown neighborhoods, among many other topics covered in the book, the opera manages to make the script relevant while still drawing many of its lines directly from the novel. 'We had no idea when we were putting this together how contemporary it was going to be. So last night, as I watched it with the audience, it was chilling,' Cisneros says. 'I was a little worried about this opera coming out at this time with this administration, but I believe, and have to trust, that it's opening at the right time.' While walking the lush, green outdoor grounds of Glimmerglass Festival, I found myself among a crowd of mostly older, mostly white festivalgoers — that is, until I overheard a woman speaking Spanish. Looking to connect with other Latinas, I approached her. Samantha Alvarez greeted me with a smile and told me she's from Pilsen, Chicago, just like Cisneros, She said the inspiration she felt from feeling represented by 'The House on Mango Street' as a kid opened up a world of possibilities and empowered her to start a travel community and podcast called Hood Girls Travel Too. 'If Sandra, a hood girl like me, was creating such an impact in the world with her writing, maybe I could be someone, too,' Alvarez says. ' "If Sandra, a hood girl like me, was creating such an impact in the world with her writing, maybe I could be someone, too." Samantha Alvarez ' Alvarez invited me to sit with her. Before I knew it, I was sitting with 12 other women who are part of Rise & Thrive Latinas, a Chicago-based book club-turned-community for Latinas. The women carpooled together, driving nearly 800 miles from Chicago to Central New York to see the opera. 'For most of us, 'The House on Mango Street' was one of the first times we saw ourselves in a book, especially growing up in Chicago. And there we sat, watching the book that gave us life come to life as an opera — a medium not many of us are familiar with. But this time we were part of the inside jokes, we understood the references, we understood the dynamics Esperanza was experiencing. This time we were not the outsiders, we were home,' shares Rise & Thrive Latinas founder Stephanie Gomez. This, Cisneros says, was exactly her goal: to introduce her characters to a new audience and introduce a new audience to opera. 'The fact that they all drove, these women from different walks of life, all of them in a caravan to come here was so moving to me. And they don't even know each other, except through this Latina book club, and their enthusiasm and their willingness to embrace each other and the story was so gratifying for me, was just thrilling,' Cisneros shares. 'There was even a woman who came from Los Angeles and she wasn't part of the book club, but they grabbed her and said, 'Come on, come with us.' This is what I want to see, an opera where the audience includes my community, including the diversity of faces and people on the stage. That was just beyond my dreams.' ' "The incredible thing about this book is that it's both specific and universal, that almost anybody can see themselves in these characters. Older people, younger people, people of all different races and ethnic origins find themself in the story of their family and their neighborhood in that book." Derek Bermel ' I watched the opera on the edge of my seat, shimmying to the tunes and tearing up at the drama. Derek Bermel, the composer of the opera, created a new layer of depth for the 'Mango Street' characters by infusing the sounds of música norteña, rancheras, merengue, salsa, and hip-hop — all genres that would play in the Chicago neighborhoods in 'The House on Mango Street.' Having grown up in New York City in the 1990s and 2000, I also felt at home. 'The incredible thing about this book is that it's both specific and universal, that almost anybody can see themselves in these characters. Older people, younger people, people of all different races and ethnic origins find themself in the story of their family and their neighborhood in that book,' Bermel says. Bermel and Cisneros worked closely on the songs to ensure they would reflect the characters' origins and personalities. One of those characters is Lucy, one of Esperanza's first real friends when she moves to the neighborhood and whose Mexican-American Spanglish is sprinkled throughout the Tejano-style music in her scenes. ' "It made me feel so connected to my ancestors and the sacrifices that so many generations before us had made." ' 'To be a Latina in this Latina-driven story, in a Latina-written opera, felt like such a privilege and honor when I was cast in the role. I based her off on myself and my experiences growing up in Caracas,' says Samantha Sosa, who plays Lucy. 'It made me feel so connected to my ancestors and the sacrifices that so many generations before us had made. It felt like such an honor to be doing the show, and then when we all did our bows, personally, when I took my bow, I felt like I was taking it for more than just myself, I took it for a community of living people and a community of people that came before all of us in the audience and on stage.' Much like Cisneros shared that her journey out of Chicago to Iowa for her master's degree provided some relief and fresh perspective after years of living in the city, I felt a wave of comfort wash over me while taking a break from New York City and enjoying my time around Cooperstown. I was relieved to get fresh air, look out to the foothills of the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains, and feel the breeze off the Otsego Lake. I stayed at The Landmark Inn, a historic 1856 mansion that was the most relaxing place to rest between visiting Cooperstown's main attractions just minutes away. I found a plethora of cultural connections, from visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame's '¡ Viva Baseball!" exhibit on Latin American baseball traditions — which featured my family's Dominican hometown team Las Aguilas as well as a literal nod to my favorite Venezuelan Mets player Francisco Alvarez by way of a bobble head in the gift shop — to viewing American folk art at the Fenimore Art Museum and walking through the historic village at the Fenimore Farm. I strolled through the Cooperstown Farmers Market, tasted locally made food like chocolates by Madrileña Sonia Sola of Nectar Hills Farm, and sourced the cutest rainbow striped wristlet handmade by Brazilian artist Lucia Emiko. On my final day in Cooperstown, Cisneros and I met at Clausen Lodge and we both admired the view of rolling green hills. We sat on the porch the morning after her opera's premiere and, as we closed our discussion, Cisneros shared why she felt spiritually moved to center her book's vignettes about migration and the threat of deportation in the opera. ' "The story of immigration is the great American story, and I feel that people who don't feel love toward immigrants [suffer from] arrested development." sandra Cisneros ' 'If we don't tell our stories, it will be like it never happened. The story that I was privy to while writing 'The House on Mango Street' is one of great American values. The story of immigration is the great American story, and I feel that people who don't feel love toward immigrants [suffer from] arrested development,' Cisneros says. 'Everybody is on a spiritual path, and if you can't open your heart to love, and you are enclosed with anger, resentment, and revenge, it's because you're not developed as a human being. Politicians that are in positions of power right now are spiritually immature. They haven't come into a place where they can see others who are unlike them with love.' Before parting, Cisneros shared her advice on how to protect our hearts and minds during these politically strife times. 'I think that it's going to be very important that we retreat into connecting with our ancestors and our cultural beliefs, with art, which is our medicine, and with community. Our community is going to be our strength. Who's going to love us, if not us?' Cisneros says. 'We have to go back to our raíces, connect with our ancestors and with our culture. That's the gift that we can give to el mundo: our spiritual generosity, our spiritual vision, our spiritual love.'
Los Angeles Times
20-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
New mural at Dodger Stadium honors Fernando Valenzuela
Nine months after his death, Fernando Valenzuela stands immortalized in a new mural on the loge‑level wall at Dodger Stadium—a vibrant fusion of art and legacy unveiled Saturday. Painted by Mexican American artist Robert Vargas, the mural shows Valenzuela tipping his cap to the sky in a Dodgers Mexican‑heritage jersey — featuring a green sleeve, red sleeve, white center — alongside two striking images of Valenzuela in his pitching stance. Vargas said the mural is meant to symbolize unity within the Latino community. 'I felt it very important to show that the Latino community has a place within these walls and has had a place within these walls,' Vargas said. He wanted to reflect Valenzuela's spirit that still lives in the hearts of many fans and feature the man behind the player. 'What he did in the community, is what resonates so much more for me than just the player — but the man, the person that he was,' Vargas said. Valenzuela played for the Dodgers from 1980-90. He grew up in Etchohuaquila, a small town in Mexico, and took Major League Baseball by storm in 1981, earning rookie of the year and Cy Young honors. Latino fans who previously felt little connection to the Dodgers were thrilled to see one of their own winning, sparking Fernandomania. Valenzuela wore the No. 34 and it remains a popular jersey worn by fans at Dodger Stadium. Claudio Campo choked up as he gazed at the tribute. Traveling from Phoenix with his son to celebrate the boy's 11th birthday, Campo shared memories of a player whose greatness felt deeply personal. Valenzuela's nickname, 'El Toro,' are inked on Campo's left arm. 'He was a staple for the people that didn't have anything and then where he came from showed that anything is possible if you go ahead and revive what you are,' Claudio said. Fans holding Valenzuela bobbleheads given away by the Dodgers took their pictures in front of the new mural Saturday night. Longtime fan Dulce Gonzalez held back emotion as she showed off her shirt with the name 'Valenzuela' written across it, describing the reason she started watching baseball. 'He was the first Latino player I could truly connect with and be proud of,' she said. For Gonzalez, Valenzuela's story resonated because he came from the same roots, offering representation she had longed for. 'We are a melting pot of races here, people love baseball from all races, but because I am Latina, I feel a little bit more connected,' she said. Her son, Nicolas, dressed in a red and green Dodgers Mexican heritage jersey, said Valenzuela helped heal some wounds after Mexican American families were displaced from their homes in Chavez Ravine shortly before Dodger Stadium was built on the same land. 'He really opened the city up to the Dodgers after a long difficult entry and he really represented triumph over adversity,' Nicolas said.
Cosmopolitan
17-07-2025
- Cosmopolitan
Jessica Alba Is 'Keeping Things Low-Key' With Danny Ramirez
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