
- Edition: 2023
- Published: March 28, 2023
I adored this story! Minerva is a modern-day hero. Is she flawed and awkward? Yes. Who isn’t? But she’s also smart, tenacious, intrepid, fiercely loyal, and irresistibly funny. Minerva’s wishes are our wishes — for the world to be fair and kind, and for people to be allowed to be their authentic selves with no apologies or punishment. This is a story that glows with hope and truth. #Minerva4Ever
– Jennifer Ziegler, author of How Not to Be Popular and Worser
Minerva, first ninth-grader on her school paper, is ready to be the next Christiane Amanpour. It’s 2013 and Twitter’s a Wild West full of misogynist trolls, bullies Minerva would love to see banned. The biggest troll of all? The hottest guy in school—Chaz, basketball phenom—and he’s doing a full-court press to get with Minerva’s best friend, Diana.
Diana wants to fit in, and the whole school seems all in with Chaz and his Hot or Not tournament. When Minerva investigates hazing allegations and tracks tweets to the scene of a kegger, she finds Diana on the fast track to his despicable “Final Four”—a game of no consent.
Should @nervesofsteel fight back with reporting like the NYT or like TMZ?
Maybe Minerva needs to serve up vigilante justice for a girl who’s feeling like a lot more than a friend.
High school in the digital age is harder than Hades, but Minerva’s got nerve to do what it takes so #truthwillout.
Check out the prequel to @nervesofsteel, Minerda.