PILLOW TALK

Grace Mendes isn’t comfortable in her own skin, but her pillow-fightin’ alter ego, Cinderhella, sure is.

Grace is a Toronto college student with a history of low self-esteem brought on by years of bullying and a complicated relationship with her stepmother. She lives with her childhood (and only) friend, Callie, who valiantly tries to pull Grace out of her shell by dragging her to a Pillow Fight Federation competition. With nods to the puntastic names seen in roller derby, the sport features bouts between players like Kat Atonic and Rapunchel. Grace quickly falls in love and decides to try it out herself, a decision that sends her on a journey that brings out the powerful person she is but also forces her to reckon with her insecurities when she faces a slew of social media comments. Even as the characters deal with homework, hangovers, and money anxieties outside the ring, this graphic novel with a notably bold color palette introduces readers to the lesser-known world of competitive pillow fighting and the ways it subverts traditional stereotypes around women in sports. Some plot points feel rushed—like Callie’s explorations of her sexuality and the single parenthood of one of the pillow fighters—but overall, this is a delightful, inclusive, feminist, coming-of-age sports story. Diversity in sexuality, gender, and race is represented in primary and secondary characters; Grace has brown skin, and Callie reads white.

Will win readers’ hearts.