Girl Power Bookfest 2011 Kicks Off!

Today marks the launch of the very first Girl Power Bookfest here on Lale on Lit. It’s an event I’ve been planning for over a year now, and I’m incredibly excited for the next two weeks! We’ve got guest posts, author interviews, and a grand total of four giveaways! (Thought that would catch your interest.) Stay tuned for the first giveaway, which I’ll reveal below.

First, I want to talk a little about what the phrase ‘girl power’ means to me. It’s one that’s used a lot in reviews, usually applied to girls who physically kick butt in the warrior sense. Sure, these girls have girl power—but my definition encompasses more than just girls who’re slaying demons, staking vampires or beating up bad guys.

I’ll admit that my first ever idol in fiction was a warrior girl. I was near the beginning of middle school when my cousin first handed me Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness quartet. (Well below the recommended reading age—not that this fact had any negative effects on me, which is why I’m not someone who places books into specific age categories!)

I quickly came to idolize Alanna, the protagonist who ditches convent school, swaps places (and clothes!) with her twin brother and heads to the palace to become a knight. By the end of the series, she’s a whiz with a sword and pretty good with her magical Gift, but was that why I liked her? Not at all.

Sure, Alanna’s sword swinging ways may have inspired me to take up fencing (six years of epee and counting!) but what I admired most about her was that she was determined. When she’s lagging behind her male peers at swordplay, she borrows her manservant and father figure’s ridiculously heavy sword and practises with it every night. When she’s being bullied by an older boy, she spends hours learning street fighting techniques so she can fight back. Even if she initially complains, she always forces herself to face her fears and to accept her responsibilities, and it makes her a stronger person.

That, for me, is what girl power is all about—sticking up for yourself, being determined, refusing to shy away when the going gets tough. I hope that the next two weeks will be a fun forum for discussing girl power and its implications, with some fun book recommendations thrown in! Now, for the giveaway.

In honour of my long-standing obsession with strong women in fiction that started with Alanna, I’m giving away:

 -One copy of Alanna: The First Adventure. It’s the first book in the Song of the Lioness quartet, and one of my all time favorite girl power reads!

-A ‘Self-Rescuing Princess’ t-shirt for the winner (or a female friend/relative, though if a guy wants to wear the shirt, then go for it!) to express their inner girl power.  

Unfortunately, the international shipping costs are more than the shirt, so if the winner of this prize pack is international, they’ll receive an additional book of their choice from Book Depository, up to a $15 value.

That concludes my opening post. Be sure to enter the giveaway, and note that there are extra points for putting the button on your blog. Stick around during the week for three more surprise giveaways that will all be international!