What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents and Daughters

What's Happening to My Body?

by Lynda Madaras, Area Madaras, Simon Sullivan (Illustrator)

Provides information and advice concerning the physical, psychological, and behavioral changes associated with puberty.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Banned Books, Health, Coming Of Age, Childrens, Sexuality

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Lynda Madaras is the author of eleven books on health, childcare, and parenting, including six from Newmarket Press. Lynda is recognized worldwide by librarians, educators, reviewers, parents, nurses, doctors --- and the kids themselves --- for her unique non-threatening style, excellent organization, and thorough coverage of the experience of adolescence.

For more than twenty years a sex and health education teacher in Pasadena and Santa Monica, California, she has made numerous appearances on Oprah, Today, Good Morning America, CNN, PBS, and is quoted often in newspapers and magazines. She lectures frequently to teachers, librarians, nurses, health professionals, and parents' groups.

She lives in California.

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out from the library when I was looking for a book to give my almost-8 yr.-old. I found the content a little bit too detailed in areas I didn't feel she was ready for yet (birth control, for instance - yikes!! I'm not ready for that!) And it had some anatomical illustrations of boys and girls that I thought could wait a bit longer. So I got the American Girls Body Book instead. This one would be more appropriate for later puberty, I think. It's also a great resource for both moms and dads to read as a refresher on all the great and terrible things that lie ahead!

Side note: There is also the boy version of this book that I look forward to reading in a few years when my sons get that age.

[Branden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book I learned from. It tells you all the real terms and even lets you know what you are going to wind up hearing about your body. I will probably use it for my oldest daughter but not so sure if it will go over with all of them. I am curious as to what the one for boys is like.

[Katurah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. I would recommend it to anyone who is a girl, and is a preteen. :)

[Aliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this together with my 9 years old niece. This book is helpful!

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a concise sex edu books and I found this book. What I like about this book, it's well-written and organized. I love how the author consistently use medical term but also introduce to the readers the slang terms (both are important, imo)

The author is also added testimonial from teenagers about their bodiesーwhat makes them worried, smart moves. The readers would feel not alone and notice that it is normal.. for example, to have different shape of clitoris. Not to mention how to deal with feeling and their sexuality with such in depth discussion.

Worth reading.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book to start conversation with my kids. I bought the one for boys for my son and the girls for my daughter. I read them both first. Then took a Saturday and had them each read their own. Then I had them switch books and read the others. After that we sat together and talked about what we'd read. It was fantastic.

[Vanessa Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gives the best information with detail and illustrations for understanding. I decided to read chapters in advance and my child would read the chapter. If further clarity was needed we would discuss further. Decided to read separately to give privacy on the topic and for her own space. We did an overview each week.

[Felicity Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soma good info on this book and great advice the only thing that let it down was some of the pics in there we not age appropriate

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, I remember we had this in my house as a child 😂

[Arfa Tijani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and exquisite

[Radiolab]

Radiolab asked listeners for their sex ed recommendations.

Sarah, a Radiolab listener, says, "I'm not sure why my mom didn't feel up to giving me The Talk. Maybe she thought I would just do better with written information than verbal? No matter what, this book had everything. Written information, diagrams, slang, easily read and understood information that wasn't dumbed down.
I ended up handing it to my sister a few years later; I told her she could ask me any questions she needed, but I trusted the book to lead her right."

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter's pediatrician recommended this book. I thought it was well-written and useful for girls who have already started developing and experiencing signs of puberty.

"What's Happening to My Body?" covers topics such as male and female physical development, puberty, growth spurts, menstruation, romantic and sexual feelings. It lists the stages of development, and relates the various changes and in what order they normally occur, and also describes the wide ranges in what is normal.

The author is clear that some people have different beliefs about certain aspects of sexuality, but presents the information in a straight-forward manner. Parents can provide the context of their own morals to their children as they discuss the topics together.

New words are presented with phonetic pronunciation, except in one case. "...some women do have pain around the time of ovulation. This pain is called Mittelschmerz. (Don't even bother trying to pronounce this German word!)" Why not? When presenting girls with information that should make them more confident and more comfortable in their bodies, please don't write off their minds! Honestly, that was really my only issue with the book.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gives a pretty thorough overview (200+ pages), complete with full step-by-step diagrams of what girl can expect during puberty. It includes a chapter on male puberty as well as brief highlights on STDs, menopause, homosexuality, eating disorders, Female Athletic Syndrome, TSS, etc. There is a resource index in the back as well. Overall, I thought it was very well done. I did not care for the feebly diplomatic attempts to expound on controversial issues. It had the pretense of respect for differing opinions, but it was very clearly implied that they thought religious reasons for disagreeing with their points of view were at best, a bit silly. I didn’t much care for that. I did like that the tone is definitely set for a young girl audience. I just felt like the author(s) overstepped a few boundaries that I would certainly have left in the parental realm.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids are getting the information from disreputable sources, so in light of that, I'd rather they get it from a decent, if graphic and straightforward text source. At least this information is correct. This is good and appropriately geared toward middle school students - but parents know their kids best, should preview this before handing it to kids and if only part of the book works for their purposes, then there's no rules saying they have to use the whole thing. I for one think it's a good idea to have honest, straightforward and judgement free texts out there for adolescents to use...instead of shady internet sources.

[Mistie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another one for the most banned books. It makes me angry that this book would be banned. I understand that it deals with issues that many people find alarming--sex, puberty, etc. But it deals with it in a scientific and straightforward way. If you don't want your kid to find out about her body from a book like this, maybe you should talk to her; but you shouldn't take away a wonderful resource for other parents and young adults who might have questions.

I know this book is too advanced for my two-year-old, but I'm glad I have it. I think it's a great resource.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The girls in my daughter's class were given this book as part of their human development lessons. (The boys were given the boys' version). It is very thorough and informative without being overly clinical. It serves as a great jumping-off point for a parent to discuss body changes and sexuality if you don't know where to begin (or end). The resource section at the back of the book will be very helpful if my daughter has more questions or interests, and I anticipate that she'll use the book for years to come.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am preparing to have the "talk" with my nine year old daughter and I am trying to find an age-appropriate book to tell her just what she needs to know at this age about the changes that will be happening over the next several years in her body! What a challenge! This book is way too wordy for her - it's a 250 page chapter book. Plus it has a little too much information (and pictures) beyond what I think she needs to know at this age. I read it to get some idea of what she may be questioning and wanting to know at this age but the search continues for the right book.

[Girl Underground · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy and incredibly helpful read for my 10-year-old stepdaughter, who's got a foot firmly in puberty, and me. It makes the subject of puberty approachable, safe to talk about, interesting, and above all, normal.

[Dee Montoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for us mothers with young girls about to start with all the body changes. its a great guide, very informative, it helps you understand how to approach the topic with our daughters in an accurate and comfortable matter. I recommend it!

[ms. parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

a crucial text when breasts emerged.

[HeavyReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book, but I have an old edition which makes some strange assertions about "hermaphrodites." I'd say get a newer volume and make sure it doesn't say any weird stuff.

[Amrika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The entire guidebook for girls. !
Everything you need to know.
At first i did not like the book but then I learned things that i did not know before.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for pre-teen/teens to read. Explains a lot.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I learned stuff from this book as an adult, I think it would've served me well as a teen. It was pretty heteronormative though.

[Liliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a really good book for girls who need to know more about puberty. I recommend it to girls 9 and up. Or depending on maturity level...11 and up.

[Trejon Dunkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally I've figured out what's happening to me!

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible! Why did she forcce me!?