Dreadnought: Britain,Germany and the Coming of the Great War

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Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she’s transgender. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantle to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny’s body into what she’s always thought it should be. Now there’s no hiding that she’s a girl. Danny is a transgender girl, she's fifteen, and one day she sees the Superhero Dreadnought being killed. Following this death, she receives the mantle, making her the new Dreadnought and giving her her ideal body. And her ideal body matches her real gender : she's not a boy, she's never been one, she's a girl. The thing is, this humour is a necessary tonic to what might otherwise be interpreted as an often bleak, very difficult read for someone who has gone through experiences similar to Danny’s. On the one hand, you have Doc Impossible, who is supportive and intersectional as shit: maybe 4.5 stars. This book begins in a challenging way - 15-year old Danny is a trans girl, hiding behind a mall to put on toenail polish, the only revelation of her true self that she dares try, with her volatile father and school situation. When suddenly, a superhero/supervillain battle erupts overhead. A minute later, the dying superhero Dreadnought falls at her feet, and passes her his powers in his last moments. And along with them, the transformation of her body to her personal ideal. Which in this case means beautifully female, at least on the outside. What a wonderful way to spend a day! Danny was such a lovingly-drawn character that I found it impossible not to fall in love with her myself. While the book was a bit bleak in places, and Danny certainly needed her super-strength to carry some of the burdens she was handed, this was still an empowering story that ended on a high note.

biggest issue #1: the portrayal of what it means to be a girl in this book is kind of problematic. when danielle becomes a “real girl” (her words) she becomes smaller, for the most part. her hands, feet, and shoulders shrink down, become petite. but her waist and breasts get fuller. she quite literally becomes society’s idealized version of a woman. those physical things about her body are described as “undeniable evidence of femininity.” when her voice changes, she calls it a “girl voice.” because of her transformation, she is now suddenly more in touch with her feelings, more emotional. because of her transformation, she is suddenly hyper aware of what she eats and doesn’t want to gain weight, and starts eating salads. some of the childhood “signs” of her being trans were her asking if she could be a princess, not having a cooties phase, crossing her legs a certain way, and holding her books in front of her chest. there’s even a moment where a doctor has to break it to her that she doesn’t have a uterus, and she thinks that means she isn’t a real woman. Danny's dynamics with Doc Impossible and Calamity stand out as well. Calamity is fairly compelling all on her own. The relationship building between her and Danny is great. I’m rooting for them to get together officially in book two, and a scene towards the end of the book gave me some serious hope. Dreadnought is wonderful YA superhero novel about a 15 year old transgender girl Danny who gets super powers after an accident and the adventures begin. What I loved about this read was the pure fun of the story. I really feel like the balance here is great between a superb story about teens dealing with magic powers and puberty, but then we also have an excellent trans and lesbian storyline which is given just as much attention and credit as the other. I really like that it didn't lean too heavily one way or another becuase it made the story feel so much more fluid and exciting to learn not only about the 'magical' elements, but also about the deeper personal issues and problems Danny faced.When you're a kid, who do you look up to ? A superhero. You need to find yourself in a superhero, you need to think 'That could be me.' Kids need a transgender superhero. Danny is (sadly) not free from transphobia once she transitions. She has spent a lot of her life being hyper-masculinized by her emotionally abusive father, and I want to make sure I offer the warning that he throws a lot of slurs Danny's way throughout the book. Not only that, but she also has to deal with frequent misgendering by a trans-exclusionary feminist. To me, she came across as occasionally more villainous than the villain of the book does. She was vile. Feminism that doesn't include trans women is pointless and deeply horrifying, and the TERF character in this story disgusted me. Which is exactly what she was supposed to do. I could contend with flat characters if they were just boring, but a few don’t make any sense. Danny has a long-term friend, David. On the first day that he sees his friend after her transformation, he is enamored with her breasts. He is not, as one might expect, freaked out by how his friend dramatically physically changed overnight. No, because she’s hot, he spends a lot of time looking at her chest. On the second day, he asks her out with a rather horrid speech about how he is ready to settle and Danny is so hot that he can forget about the fact that she is actually a boy. When Danny rightfully rejects him, he storms off screaming slurs. I also loved that Dreadnought was just loaded with strong women: heroes, villains, police officers-- they were absolutely everywhere. There was even a strong hero who was such a horror show that I felt she was worse than the supervillain (who, incidentally, was plotting to murder the entire human race!) Graywytch, you are the worst! The worst. The. Worst. ( theworst.)

Hey! None of that!” She takes me by the shoulders. “You think it’s a uterus that makes a woman? Bullshit. You feel like you’re a girl, you live it, it’s part of you? Then you’re a girl. That’s the end of it, no quibbling. You’re as real a girl as anyone. An you really need to learn to express your anger better.” But the transphobia just made me incredibly uncomfortable, Graywytch made me nauseated, and I'm honestly not sure I would recommend this to a trans teen, because it's reinforcing so many negative and dated ideas. Yes, plenty of people have those ideas in reality. Yes, trans teens have to deal with transphobia in reality. But surely that's all the more reason to spare them this much anti-trans sentiment in what they read for pleasure??I loved Danielle's journey to come to terms with her identity both as a girl and as a superhero, and her discovery that true empowerment has to come from inside. This is a great series starter with so much potential, and I'm very much looking forward to the next part of Danielle's story. stars! So wonderful! What a great concept thoughtfully executed, and to great entertainment value! Danny is a closeted trans girl when the superhero Dreadnought dies in front of her, passing on his powers. Her body is instantly brought to its ideal form: not only does she now have superpowers, her body matches her gender. Reread as book #4 of my job refusing to implement work-from-home - and guess what? It's the last one! Just a few minutes after I finished this book, our account manager came in and announced we were going to start WFH, and now I've been safely at home for over a week! The character dynamics - particularly between Danny and Calamity - shine throughout. Reading this the weekend of the Women's March made me feel quite emotional. This message of female solidarity is so important; and add to it a much-needed, complex, trans superheroine and you have one hell of a powerful book. I can't wait for more.