E. Lockart is an author for young adults who recently won the Printz Award (the highest award in teen literature), and who is, in my humble opinion, one of the best, brightest, and most feminist authors around today.
Not only is the phrase "I'm a feminist," no more, no less, the eighth sentence in her autobiographical blurb, all of her books have a strong feminist or progressive bent to them.
Fly On The Wall is about what happens when an outcast teenaged girl magically turns into a fly on the wall of the boy's locker room at her school. It shows us that *gasp* girls sometimes feel a strong sexual desire towards boys and nothing else, and that there's nothing wrong with that. It also plays into breaking stereotypes-some of the boys in the locker room are extremely self-conscious about their bodies, something our heroine assumed only happened to girls. Plus, there is an interesting yet brief subplot about homophobic teasing going on in the locker room.
In Dramarama, a strong friendship between a gay black male teen-Demi-and a straight white female teen-Sarah-plays out over an eventful summer at musical theater camp. The discussions about race and sexual orientation are interesting-Sarah, who narrates the story, makes references to Demi's flamboyant attire as being his "gay boy clothes" and the like, which, to the best of the reader's knowledge, doesn't bother him, but he gets very angry at her reluctance to discuss his race. There are also discussions of the ugly, awkward, inexperienced girl at camp turning out to break everyone's expectations, by not only being one of the most talented people there, but by also being one of the very few people who's willing to talk with Demi about how she's never met a gay or black man before, and what it must be like to be him.
Lockharts most recent book, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, which won the Prinze award, is about the adventures of a very unique young woman during her sophomore year at a prestigious boarding school. Over the summer, she developes a very conventionally womenly and attractive figure. One of the first scenes is of her mother worrying that something will happen to her because of her new figure if she takes a walk on a beach boardwalk in her bikini. During the year, she becomes the girlfriend of a very popular senior boy, who is also a member of an exclusive, legendary, all-male club at the school that is famous for the pranks that they pull. I'll let you read it to find out what happens, but trust me, it is an awesome feminist statement.
E. Lockhart's most famous work is the Ruby Oliver series, which contains The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, and The Treasure Map of Boys. It tells the story of what happens when a Seattle prep school's "famous slut" has a falling out with her boyfriend and most of her best friends and ends up in therapy. It isn't slut-shaming at all-just the opposite, which is revolutionary for YA literature. Ruby discusses the emotional pain she feels when people shame her for liking boys, and she shows teens everywhere that, yes, the "famous slut" at your school is a normal teen who's feeling get hurt.
Lockhart also write a blog.
I highly reccomend these books to all of you, whether or not you are a teen.
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I have read and really enjoyed E. Lockhart in the past. I was a huge fan of david levithan and after reading 21 Proms i decidied to check out some other authors from there, E lockhart being one of them. I've read The Boyfriend List, The Boy Books, Fly on the Wall, and Dramarama and loved them all. I will definately check out some of her other books. I had no idea she identified as a feminist, that is so cool!
I'm 17 but since working at a library it's become clear that YA novels can (and should) be read by adults. :)