Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu hits shelves in a few short weeks! ???? To celebrate the release of this brand-new inspiring novel, Team Fierce Reads asked Jennifer some questions about the book and life as an author.

TEAM FIERCE READS: What makes Vivian fierce?
JENNIFER MATHIEU: Viv sees a problem in her school and overcomes her natural shyness and fear to fight that problem with all her heart. That’s not easy to do, but she does it.

TFR: If you’d met Viv when you were a teen, would you have been friends?
JM: Oh, TOTALLY. I’ll be honest, Viv is a lot like I was in high school. I wasn’t as shy, but we share a lot of the same characteristics. So yeah, I would have been Viv’s friend and I would have been a Moxie Girl, too!

TFR: Describe your book in 3 words
JM: Teen Feminist Army

TFR: If you could give Viv one piece of advice, what would it be?
JM: I would tell Viv that her instincts are right and she should keep the fight going. I would also recommend a few bands she might like since she’s so wild about Bikini Kill! My top recommends would probably be Sleater-Kinney and Fea, a band out of San Antonio!

TFR: What’s one fun fact most people don’t know about you?
JM: My first language was Spanish! My mom and dad came to the United States from Cuba and Chile, respectively, and I didn’t learn English until I went to school.

TFR: What’s your favorite part of being an author?
JM: Meeting readers both in person and online. I’m especially grateful when a reader shares with me how much one of my books validated them or inspired them. It doesn’t get better than that.

Learn more about Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, on sale September 19th!