Lacking tough, real-world examples, this sanitized guide fails in its mission.
A guide on how to take on the role of an “Upstander,” someone who “supports fairness and respect while also trying to decrease bullying and injustice.”
Young people today live in a world where almost daily they have to navigate injustice, whether personally or as a witness to the suffering of their peers, and this book aims to give them help with that. Short quizzes opening each thematic chapter help readers understand where they may stand when confronted with challenging situations; these are followed by illustrative scenarios. In the chapter “Kindness and Anger Can Be Contagious,” a student learns that he wasn’t invited to a friend’s birthday gathering, then takes out his anger on his sibling. Following the story, the author provides bullet points of advice, suggesting how a young person can regulate negative emotions. This example is one of many where, in seeking accessible universality, the book unfortunately falls short as a 21st-century motivation guide. Moss fails to specifically address current issues that young people face daily. She briefly name-checks Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. but doesn’t address everyday racism. There is no mention of LGBTQ issues nor the intolerance that many immigrant students must confront daily. A two-and-a-half page section on stereotypes wanly makes an attempt but falls far short.
Lacking tough, real-world examples, this sanitized guide fails in its mission. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4338-2963-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
This introduction to puberty may be particularly helpful for girls looking ahead to that stage.
A growing-up guide for preteen girls.
This puberty-navigation guide covers girls’ bodily changes, body care, health, relationships with family and friends, staying safe, and handling stress. In many cases the author, a registered nurse, has covered the same material as she did in various editions of this title as well as The Boy’s Body Book. This girls’ book skips the topics of sleep and performance-enhancement drugs in favor of a section on eating disorders. As in the boys’ book, controversial subjects are addressed generally and conservatively if at all. She includes a rough diagram of female reproductive organs and tells her young readers about menstruation and visiting a gynecologist but not how babies are made. She talks about having boys as friends, saying “Don’t put pressure on yourself to call any of your close friendships ‘dating.’ ” The strength of this title is its emphasis on good grooming, healthy living habits, and positive relationships. Added for this fourth edition is new material on interacting with adults, personal empowerment, body language, reputations, and “learning disabilities,” helpful information for the growing segment of the preteen population identified with cognitive and social learning differences. Tallardy’s cartoon illustrations show girls and adults of varying ethnicities and provide a cheerful accompaniment.
This introduction to puberty may be particularly helpful for girls looking ahead to that stage. (resources, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-60433-714-3
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Cider Mill Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
A painful and painfully recognizable tale of one girl’s struggle to make and keep “one good friend.” (author’s note)...
A truth-telling graphic memoir whose theme song could be Johnny Lee’s old country song “Lookin’ for Love in all the Wrong Places.”
Shannon, depicted in Pham’s clear, appealing panels as a redheaded white girl, starts kindergarten in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1979, and her story ends just before sixth grade. Desperately longing to be in “the group” at school, Shannon suffers persistent bullying, particularly from a mean girl, Jenny, which leads to chronic stomachaches, missing school, and doctor visits. Contemporary readers will recognize behaviors indicative of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but the doctor calls it anxiety and tells Shannon to stop worrying. Instead of being a place of solace, home adds to Shannon’s stress. The middle child of five, she suffers abuse from her oldest sibling, Wendy, whom Pham often portrays as a fierce, gigantic bear and whom readers see their mother worrying about from the beginning. The protagonist’s faith (presented as generically Christian) surfaces overtly a few times but mostly seems to provide a moral compass for Shannon as she negotiates these complicated relationships. This episodic story sometimes sticks too close to the truth for comfort, but readers will appreciate Shannon’s fantastic imagination that lightens her tough journey toward courage and self-acceptance.
A painful and painfully recognizable tale of one girl’s struggle to make and keep “one good friend.” (author’s note) (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62672-416-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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