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256th out of 522 books
—
60 voters
How I Survived Being a Girl
Carolyn's tips for survival:
Keep your hair too short for ribbons.Get a great dog.Avoid girls who wear Mary Janes.Spy on the neighbors.Play in the mud.
Carolyn likes to break the rules. To her great surprise, it turns out that's what being a girl is all about.
Keep your hair too short for ribbons.Get a great dog.Avoid girls who wear Mary Janes.Spy on the neighbors.Play in the mud.
Carolyn likes to break the rules. To her great surprise, it turns out that's what being a girl is all about.
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
August 19th 2003
by HarperCollins
(first published January 1st 1997)
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AUTHOR PRESENTATION
The main character, twelve year old, Carolyn is struggling with self-identity like many girls of that age. She doesn't want to be a girl, but sometimes has a hard time fitting in with the boys. In the novel, she experiences her first crush, and enjoys the arrival of a baby sister. In the end, she has learned to be comfortable with who she is. In my author presentation, I speculated the value of such realistic stories. I think reading a story like this could help young people b...more
The main character, twelve year old, Carolyn is struggling with self-identity like many girls of that age. She doesn't want to be a girl, but sometimes has a hard time fitting in with the boys. In the novel, she experiences her first crush, and enjoys the arrival of a baby sister. In the end, she has learned to be comfortable with who she is. In my author presentation, I speculated the value of such realistic stories. I think reading a story like this could help young people b...more
I sort of stole my copy from the hospital a few years ago. Anyway, this is such a cute book about a full blown tomboy and her adventures and tips on how not to be a girly girl. It's more geared toward 10-12 year olds but I'd read it even if I was fifty. Caroline is such a tough little fireball who lives her brothers and her family and get friend. "How I survived being a girl"bus a simple read that still has a lot of heart and humorously shows just how hard i
You can have it when you're a girl. I...more
You can have it when you're a girl. I...more
Wierd... but good! I probally would have enjoyed this better if I was in 6th but... never too old for anything! (Well... almost anything.) My sister showed me this book because she knew I liked the book Flipped and this was from the same author. So I thought, alright! Let's see if I'd like this book as much. It was very cute and I really loved how the author was able to tell a tale through the mind of a 6th grader. It was so real! I can still remember how I used to think like that... another ama...more
The writing was fine, I just didn't find a plot. The author takes the reader on a short journey through a summer with a tomboy who loves her brothers, but would prefer to be a brother, herself. It's more like a diary, but it isn't written in diary form. Just little everyday snippets of her average life and how she relates in her family and her neighborhood. I kept waiting for some big conflict to happen, so that she could make herself stand out from the rest of the crowd.
This was my favorite book when I was younger. Fantastic. Wonderfully written, wonderful character, wonderful everything. I read it over and over and over. So good. This is a girl character in a book aimed for like, elementary school students, and she kicks the shit out of most of the current YA girl characters. This book is fun, it represents childhood in a very real way, and it doesn't patronize the reader.
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I liked the map of the neighborhood. Even though I always imagine things myself, it was fun to have the drawing for reference. It brought back memories of how a neighborhood used to be, and how it should be. I enjoyed reading a book written in a child's honest, innocent, insightful perspective.
I adored this book when I was younger, I read and reread it until I got sick of it, which rarely happened. This girl reminded me of myself in a way! I fell in love with Carolyn and the rest of the ragtag gang. I even did a book report on it!
I read it when I was about 11 or so and I loved it. I'm in my twenties now and I still love it.
It's a sweet short read about a young girl with two brothers who just wants to be accepted by the boys and liked my one in particular.
It's a sweet short read about a young girl with two brothers who just wants to be accepted by the boys and liked my one in particular.
I enjoyed reading Draanen's book. She made it playfully obvious that girls were treated differently in the past. Carolyn's character was fun to follow and the situations she ends up in are comical.
May 19, 2011
Eve. (one direction!!!!!!!)
added it
It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!
In a way i am like a little tiny percent tom boy...
yeah it was good
In a way i am like a little tiny percent tom boy...
yeah it was good
April and I tried to read this together. Kind of boring. Every chapter the main character was somewhere else, doing something else. Hard to follow. We didn't finish the book. We read a couple chapters but just couldn't finish the story.
This was mmy favorite book growing a must have read for any girl!
Apr 03, 2012
Rebecca
added it
How I survived being a girlby Wendelin Van Draanen is a wonderful book about a young tomboy. Draanen's wit will have you laughing at every page. Her ability to incoroprate young love is spectacular. You will love every time Carolyn opens her mouth waiting for what comes out next. This young tomboy life changes from playing with the neighbors to schoolgirl chrushes. set in summer time you'll remember when you were young playing with your siblings and neighbors. Yuo'll wish you could join carolyn...more
The voice of Carolyn is one of my favorites. Not much action, but a good not-much-time read.
This was a really good book and I recomend it!
~Horse29~
~Horse29~
very cute. I liked the character development.
Someone summerize this book for me ;(
It's a really awesome book!!!
It was cute.
i like it to
One of my favorite books from when i was younger. I could relate to Carolyn in many ways. I've read it more times than i can count.
this book is reall intresting to me because of the charcters and the way the story goes..it reall gets my attention
This book was okay. It wasn't as good as some of the other books that I've read by Wendelin Van Draanen. The plot was pretty entertaining, but it really didn't have much sustenance. I probably wouldn't recommend.
*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2008...
*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2008...
Boring. As a not so ex-tomboy, I was excited to read about the trouble reconciling the arrival of hormones with being a tomboy. Sadly, I couldn't get past page 50 to find out.
This is good. But it is not as good as Wendelin Van Draanen's newest books. Or even the newer ones. It's told in 1st person. I recommend this book to people ages 10-12.
loved it
but the sammy keyes r always best
but the sammy keyes r always best
May 02, 2008
Lindsey
added it
This was a funny book that i read in 5th grade about a tomboy. I don't think it applies to my life at all, but it was funny. :)
this book was okay. it talked about life's hardships and what girls go through. it is an pretty okay book!
Nov 12, 2008
Raeanne
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
6th Graders
Recommended to Raeanne by:
My 4th Grade Teacher
I liked it.. I think.. but it couldn't have been that good if I can't really remember much about it. =P
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If you have read this book could you give a description? | 1 | 2 | Jul 07, 2012 10:02am |
Wendelin Van Draanen (born January 6, 1965, Chicago, Illinois) is an American author of children's books. She lives in California with her husband Mark Parsons and two sons, Colton and Connor. The daughter of chemists who emigrated to the U.S. from Holland, she worked as a math teacher and then as a high school computer science teacher before becoming a full-time writer. Her books feature spunky l...more
More about Wendelin Van Draanen...
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Apr 03, 2012 08:39am