That’s Debatable

Millicent M Chalmers has taken the state in debate for the past three years. She and her mother formed an agreement to win her senior year and secure some much-needed scholarship funds. It mainly required no boys. That hadn’t been an issue, but that was before she was locked in a cleaning closet at a tournament with Taggart Strong during a shooting. It was a shame – she was definitely going to win. When Tag admits he can’t debate a topic that goes against his beliefs, Millie offers to tutor him because he’s that bad but could be almost as good as she is. Since Millie’s mom wouldn’t understand, there are secret meetings at the library and a local pizza place. As Millie falls for Tag, she’s afraid she might lose herself and her future to love.

Millie must navigate tournaments through a battlefield laced with misogyny and sexism, soldiered by (mostly) men who judge any female on every little thing. Millie’s strong feminist views, coupled with her rules for participating – skirts not too short but not too long, neckline just right, voice modulated, not too strong but not too soft – make her a character to emulate. Excellent for readers of Moxie.