Belittled Women

With a little grit and a lot of wit and humor, Amanda Sellet dives deep into what it means for a teen to both live up to and strain against expectations, while navigating the challenges of forging one’s own path in life. Jo’s experiences manage to be delightfully outlandish yet perfectly authentic. Belittled Women is a pitch-perfect homage to the messy-yet-loving chaos of family life. — Megan Bannen, author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy Belittled Women is not just for fans of Little Women—it’s also for those of us who love a book featuring a rebellious, smart protagonist, a rustic, charming setting, and prose that makes us literally laugh out loud. Jo is a lovable and hilarious heroine, and readers will also fall in love with her family, her hometown, and her journey to figure out exactly who she is and what she wants. — Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, author of Pura Belpré Award–winning How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe If Nora Roberts wrote a YA Little Women retelling, this would be it. Brimming with effortless banter set against a satisfying slow-burn romance, Belittled Women is the very definition of a romantic comedy. Hilarious from page one, Amanda Sellet draws us into Jo Porter’s waking nightmare: the never-ending carousel of life in a literal Little Women reenactment at her mother’s roadside Kansas attraction. Living under the weight of her alternate life portraying “Book Jo” and her family’s expectations, our Jo can’t wait to bust free, but what’s holding her back might be what’s been holding her together all this time. — Sarah Henning, author of Throw Like a Girl and It's All in How You Fall I loved this wry, witty, raucous take on Little Women. Sellet nails the absurdity, love, and occasional brawls of sisterhood. The Porters are a boisterous delight.   — Jessica Spotswood, author of Great or Nothing "More of a “what if” than a retelling, this novel will interest fans of the original but will also appeal to teens who are looking to be the weavers of their own tales, clobber their bratty sister a bit, and savor the "almost" moments with the cute boy next door. With quick, breezy prose and relatable dialogue, the Porter sisters may not rival the Marches, but they leave their own mark." — ALA Booklist