On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to Julia Lynn Rubin all about her brand-new book Trouble Girls which is being described as “A queer YA #MeToo reimagining of Thelma & Louise with the aesthetic of Riverdale.”
The book follows West Virginians Trixie and Lux and how a single night of violence derails a weekend getaway and will forever change the course of their lives as they head cross country, alone and on the run from not only the police, but their former lives as well.
Here’s the summary…
When Trixie picks up her best friend Lux for their weekend getaway, they’re looking to forget the despair of being trapped in their dead-end rustbelt town. The girls are packing light: a supply of Diet Coke and an ‘89 Canon to help Lux frame the world in a sunnier light; half a pack of cigarettes that Trixie doesn’t really smoke, and a knife she’s hanging on to for a friend that she’s never used before.
But a single night of violence derails their trip, and the girls’ go from ordinary high schoolers to wanted fugitives. Trying to stay ahead of the cops and a hellscape of media attention, Trixie and Lux grapple with an unforgiving landscape, rapidly diminishing supplies, and disastrous decisions at every turn. As they are transformed by the media into the face of a #MeToo movement they didn’t ask to lead, Trixie and Lux realize that they can only rely on each other, and that the love they find together is the one thing that truly makes them free.
Like the promotional language says, Trouble Girls takes the subtext and message of Thelma & Louise and makes it palatable for today’s sensibilities. With plenty of cinematic moments, important messaging, and an ambiguous ending, this book succeeds as not only entertaining, but a conversation starter as well.
Steve and Julia talk about the impact Thelma & Louise had on Julia and this book, the real-world esthetics of the story, Trouble Girls of course, and much, much more.
To order a copy of Trouble Girls or find out what Julia has going on, click HERE!
