We Are Mayhem

December 4, 2023
After 17-year-old Birdie is forced to move to her father’s Upstate New York hometown, she anticipates skating through her upcoming senior year of high school with the help of local bestie, Lexie. Birdie plans to join Lexie on the cheerleading squad; after all, Birdie is a former gymnast who only quit when her large, muscular frame made competing feel almost impossible. When Birdie flubs cheerleading tryouts and is subsequently caught breaking into a local oddities shop, she stumbles head-first into the world of amateur backyard wrestling. There, Birdie finds kindred spirits in Abigail Rose—a chronically ill wrestling super-fan ready to overturn her cousin’s men-only wrestling scene—and Abigail Rose’s nonbinary musician partner, Xena. Together, the trio envision a wrestling collective that is campy, cathartically inclusive, and gender-creative. But the deeper Birdie delves into the subculture, the further she seems to drift from the carefully laid Ivy League future she has planned. Rourke-Mooney’s snarky yet heartwarming prose propels the story and reveals Birdie’s inner struggles with body image, gender, and physical strength; the result is a captivating and offbeat debut that explores wrestling, gender nonconformity, femme friendships, and finding one’s bliss and true self. Protagonists are coded as white. Ages 14–up.

February 1, 2024
Wrestling, taxidermy, and gender all are woven into one storyline about fitting in after relocating. Thanks to Mom's "mid-life crisis," Birdie and her family have moved to the mountains in upstate New York where Dad grew up, leaving behind New Jersey, where Birdie was an intensely competitive gymnast. But her coach had informed her that her body was growing too big for elite gymnastics, so now Birdie's contemplating joining cheerleading with summer best friend Lexie. After a late-night prank at Mostly Bones, the local taxidermy shop, goes wrong, Birdie is forced to work off her debt to the shop owner, famous wrestling legend Mad Mabel, the Mother of Mayhem. Meanwhile, she befriends Abigail Rose, Mabel's granddaughter, whose passion for reviving a feminist version of Mabel's brand convinces Birdie to join all-female wrestling squad the Future of Mayhem. The wrestling worldbuilding is robust but can be clunky and hard to follow at times. The short chapters feature visceral, detailed language and laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue. Charming tropes and captivating characters enhance the solid pacing, though a feud between two factions ends with an unbelievably easy resolution. Birdie's coming out as nonbinary (she/they) is sweet, is lovingly received by friends and family, and provides an important reflection for teens everywhere who are struggling with big questions around gender identity. Major characters read white; the supporting cast includes racial diversity. A wild, weird, and fun romp. (playlist, suggested reading) (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Mom's "mid-life crisis" has landed Bird's family in rural upstate New York, where they used to spend summers visiting their grandparents, worlds away from their old life in New Jersey. Bird is reeling from the move and unsure what to do now that her gymnastics career is over: tall, strong, and once proud of their physique, Bird has suddenly been deemed ""too big"" for elite competition. When Lexie, Bird's only friend in town, is trying out for the cheer squad, following suit seems like the fast track to something like normalcy, but fitting in turns out not to be so easy. After a prank gone wrong, Lexie is nowhere to be found and Bird lands a job under the wing of Mad Mabel, the Mother of Mayhem, retired wrestler and proprietor of Mostly Bones, the local taxidermy shop. There to show them the ropes is Abigail Rose, town weirdo from a family of so-called freaks. But Abigail's family is no freak show; they're wrestlers, and Abigail thinks Bird would fit right in with the Future of Mayhem. Meanwhile, finding a home in wrestling also helps Bird find the courage to come out as nonbinary. Fans of GLOW and WWE will catch familiar names, but readers who don't care about wrestling shouldn't dismiss this highly entertaining, knockout debut packed with vivid characters, fun wordplay, and the perfect amount of heart.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.