Girl in the Know: Your Inside-and-Out Guide to Growing Up

by Anne Katz, Monika Melnychuk (Illustrator)

With a relaxed, conversational approach, Girl in the Know is a straight-talking little manual packed with everything a girl should know about the many changes she can expect in puberty and how to make her way through it all as smoothly as possible.

But there's way more than just the body basics --- the book is divided into three main sections (Your Body, Your Mind and Taking Care) where girls will find advice on their sexuality, mood swings, crushes, health and much more.

Genres: Nonfiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2010

Reviews

[A_Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girl in the know is a chapter book about a girl growing up and the issues she may face. It covers your body (the ins and outs), your mind (the brains behind the beauty), taking care (maintenance), and more questions. Some of the images are graphic and to the point. It discusses reproductive organs, breast development, hair there and everywhere, menstruation, and other topics. I would suggest this book for fifth grade and above, even though some fourth graders might be ready for it.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this book, when discussing crushes and how to deal with them, includes homosexuality as a viable orientation. I love that it tells girls their health is not tied to their weight but to their habits. I love that it includes illustrations of black girls and white girls and Latinas and Asian girls, fat girls and skinny girls, girls with glasses and piercings and punk-rock hairdos. I love that in its first pages there is an anatomically correct illustration of lady bits, with all parts labeled and explained (including the clitoris). I love that it doesn't shame girls for masturbating, and instead calls it an appropriate way to learn about one's own body.

While it too often takes the tack "Talk to a trusted adult friend about your problems" (which might not always be an option for every girl) and could benefit from the inclusion of helpful websites or other resources, this is a smart guide to girl stuff. It does not patronize, yet it emphasizes to the reader that she is wonderful and unique and should care about being smart and healthy.

[Marjorie Ingall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is a little dry, with dorky magazine-y subheads (e.g. "Crush Rush" for a section on crushes), but the illustrations -- hip drawings of girls of all ethnicities, shapes, sizes and hair/fashion predilections -- are awesome. They make the book feel hipper than it is. I think it's a good resource, maybe a better choice than It's So Amazing (it's also a lot smaller and more compact --discreet!--than that book) for girls who want something less cartoon-y and more chic. Personally I prefer It's So Amazing because I like Robie Harris's voice more than Anne Katz's -- it feels a lot warmer and way less dry--and I like that it has the boys' perspective and is more ambitious across the board. But I can see this being far more successful with some readers.

[Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was published in 2010, which although not that long ago still handles teen development, gender, and sexuality in an outdated way. It is hetero- and cis- normative. Anything other than a heterosexual relationship is briefly touched on in one paragraph about crushes that states that if you are a girl and you have a crush on another girl, it might mean you are gay but it might mean you are just going through a phase and are really straight. The section on anatomy also does not recognize anything other than a binary (girl = vagina/vulva/breasts and boy = penis).

The book does a better job of trying to include people with different appearances and abilities, but unfortunately it ends there.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best current book on puberty I've ever read. FANTASTIC.