In 'Girl Mans Up' by M.E. Girard, Pen Oliveira is a girl who is just trying to live her life being the kind of person she's always been. She's been comfortable with herself, but everyone from her friends to her parents thinks that she's trying to 'be a boy'. This book follows Pen as she learns what respect and loyalty mean, and how to be true to herself no matter what. She makes difficult decisions, gets a girlfriend, and gets into varying degrees of trouble. Pen is done pretending to be somebody she doesn't want to be, and figures that if she needs to turn her life around she will have to 'man up'. This book has a strong, unique protagonist with a diverse cast of characters. The story is funny at times but also has many serious moments. If you like a raw, original LGBT+ coming-of-age story, you should definitely read this book.