SOME GIRLS DO

Book Summary:
A teenage lesbian helps her beauty queen
friend discover and come to grip with, her
bisexuality.

Summary of Concerns:
This book contains alternate sexualities;
alternate gender ideologies; profanity;
alcohol and drug use; inflammatory
political commentary; controversial racial
commentary.

Young Adult

By Jennifer Dugan
ISBN: 9780593112540
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3 Some people get high; Tyler and I get twenty minutes of consensual, safe sex-
always use a condom, people- and a subsequent awkward exchange about how
my leaving right after makes him feel weird.
6 "You sure you don't want one?" he asks, gesturing toward the beer beside his on
the tray. And did he, what, think I'd get wasted and spend the night watching
conservative shitheads spout lies on cable TV with him? No, thanks.
18 "There's nothing wrong with owning your sexuality. I text him as often as he texts
me. And it's a mutual understanding. No pining, no feelings-"
"The boy likes you."
"He does not!"
"That hickey on your neck says otherwise."
27 "Look, since we all made this weird already, I'll just come right out and tell you
that, one, Allie puts her foot in her mouth a lot, and two, I'm pan, so you're not
the only queer girl on the team…"
36 My actual dad is more of a sperm donor than a father, so Billy's the closest thing I
got.
39 I'm super gay. Are you?
41 "…The only things that Ruby doesn't blatantly hate are that car and Tyler
Portman's dick, so."
…"I think her body just full-on rejects any mention of dick."
42 It was like they thought they could catch the gay- or the expulsion- from me.
45 "Gay, trans, he/him, and I may not be a sports kid, but I can definitely kick your
ass at kickball."
46 "I'm a lesbian. She/her. And I like to run."
73 I glance up at her. "You and Allie want to come with? I mean, I know it's just kids
from Pride Club, but I don't think they'd care. And it's not like you wouldn't fit
right in."
76 …so don't expect her to be hitting up Pride Club meetings and hanging out after
school wearing a pin that says ANGRY LESBIAN."
76 "I had people change their lockers in gym after I came out because they thought
they were, like, god's gift to queer girls or something and I wouldn't be able to
resist staring at them."
…"…But the reality is that this place is kind of a dead zone when it comes to liberal
ideals. Like the town puts on a good show, but it's still pretty conservative
underneath the rainbow flag stickers they slapped on some of the businesses…"
77 "…And if your parents are shitheads and you happen to be gay, I promise you're
going to be a hell of a lot less loud about it."
…"Yeah, there's an LGBTQ+ resource center outside of town, near the college…"
79 Maybe because when I finally put my heart on the line for Sonia Delecourte- after
our third date, mind you- she told me kissing me was just an experiment, just to
see if she liked it, which she didn't.
95 "Counseling, support, school visits. We help with the establishment of Pride Clubs
and Gay Straight Alliances in places that don't have them- Aaron and I actually set
up the one at your school with Ms. Ming. We help put teens in touch with
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resources they need if they're in an unsafe living situation. But we also handle
Pride Proms and other fun events-"
"It's kind of your one-stop shop when it comes to the gay."
109 "Or maybe she just needs a little dick in her life."
123 "…I just picked a super-gay one, and yesterday you were telling me to shut up
about being super gay, and so the joke was-"
134 "I don't really know how or what yet, but I would love to do something that
addresses the issues that trans kids face…"
…"And the club could definitely be doing more to address the impact race has on
things too. Like the whole centering of whiteness in queer spaces and stuff."
135 "Can our school club solve all of the complicated issues surrounding transness or
racial inequality in the queer community during one afternoon? Of course not…"
…"Homelessness," she says finally. "It really impacts LGBTQ+ youth in general, but
I was reading something the other day that said it hits the trans and queer POC
communities the hardest."
149 He's gay, he says. And he's freaked that if he comes out, his teammates will be all
weird about it.
160 "Everybody should experience the splendor of hanging out with a bunch of drunk
lacrosse bros at least once in their high school years, right?"
…"They're always fun, plus free booze for the girls. Only the guys get charged."
163 "It's beer time, bitches!"
The music thumps hard enough to make the walls rattle, and everything's sticky
and smells like sweat and stale beer.
…"Allie eats this shit up," she says, taking a hefty swig of beer.
163 "I'm going to get more beer."
..I'm almost to them, I do a little half wave thing in greeting at the exact moment
some kid steps back, sending what's left of my beer sloshing all over us both.
165 She pulls my hands around her neck and dips her head onto my shoulder, a flick of
her tongue against my skin before she pulls back, wiping her lip like it was just a
stray drop of beer.
…And then Tyler comes up behind her, turning our twosome into a threesome,
and I stop dancing altogether. The beer churns in my stomach, drowning all the
butterflies as his hands touch her skin.
Tyler grabs Ruby's hips and pulls her toward him. She laughs, never missing a
beat,…
168 I turn my head just in time to see Tyler dip Ruby on the dance floor, nuzzling her
neck and kissing her behind her ear. Her head turns as he pulls her up, her sleepy
eyes meeting mine, widening just a bit before squeezing shut when he kisses the
corner of her mouth.
170 "I had way too much to drink last night."
…"…Do you really think I'd try to hook up with you when you were that drunk?"
171 "You don't remember anything, do you?" he asks. "Christ, how much did you
drink?"
"A lot," I say.
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…"Well, you basically dry-humped that girl Morgan in the middle of my living
room."
…"…We've been kind of hooking up since you dropped me…Until I realized how
drunk you were when you started bawling on the dance floor after I kissed you."
171 "…I ended up staying with you until you finally fell asleep, but by then everyone
else was really drunk, and I got worried someone might come in here and while
you were passed out, so…"
…"Listen, Ruby, we definitely don't have to be fuck buddies or whatever you want
to call it anymore, but you don't have to shut me out either…"
182 "What we're not going to do is slut-shame her."
187 I'm drunk again. I didn't mean to be drunk. Especially not two nights in a row. But
I am. So drunk. Drunker than drunk. All of the drunk. Very wickedly drunk.
…She's curled up behind her now-official boyfriend, Marcus, her chin resting on
his shoulder as he plays Xbox with his headset on and occasionally takes a swig of
whiskey. Living the hetero dream, I guess, while I sit here, lonely and drunk.
Drunk.
189 "I gotta get out of here," I say, picking up the still-unopened second bottle of
booze and my keys from the coffee table.
191 Is it always this bad and drunk and confusing?
191 And if I'm going to end up on the floor, drunk, confessing that I like girls, then it's
gonna be over someone who warrants it.
192 I scratch my neck, conceding to the little voice in my head that, yeah, maybe
showing up drunk on Morgan's doorstep in the middle of the night was, in fact, a
terrible plan.
193 I regret leaving my bottle. Not that I'm anywhere near sober, but I would like to
be drunker. A lot drunker. Like, won't remember any of this tomorrow drunker.
She returns a second, a minute, an hour later- what is time when you're wasted
on stolen whiskey on your crush's couch?
198 I take my time in the shower, trying really hard not to think about the fact that in
the last thirty-six hours or so, the girl I like kissed someone else, kissed me,
showed up drunk on my doorstep to tell e there are other hot girls…
200 "You can't just like me when you're drunk."
"I wasn't drunk yesterday afternoon!"
203 "I don't want you to hide your feelings behind sex."
"I'm not," she says, distracting me with another kiss behind my ear.
203 "Ruby, we don't have to have sex for me to know…"
222 "Kind of hard to mind my own business when yours is living in our house, getting
you drunk before your shift."
225 Is he asking me if we're going to have sex?
238 "…And your father and I hope you're practicing safe sex…"
…"You're not practicing safe sex?" Mom say. "Just because you're both women-"
…"Fine, okay, we make out! Is that what you want me to say? But we haven't
gone further than that. Her mom works nights, and her mom's live-in boyfriend is
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a creep, and that's why she sleeps here all the time. We're not, like,
constantly…you know?"
259 "...They won't kick him off the team for being gay."
276 "That you're fucking him," I say, surprising even myself with my harshness.
278 "If you don't want anyone knowing your business, then why is it okay to make
them think you're hooking up with Tyler?"
307 …staring into Morgan's eyes with my heart thrumming in my chest like a
hummingbird on meth.
323 I tip forward till I feel her lips against mine, and then I pour every ounce of myself
into our kiss.

Profanity Count
Ass 27
Bitch 5
Dick 7
Fuck 16
Goddamn 5
Piss 15
Shit 68