atippmann's review against another edition

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5.0

Pretty much a perfect book for our curious growing 10 year old! Written very well and with lots of conversation starters.

pwbalto's review against another edition

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NOTES: says age 8-11
yes masturbation, anorexia, no LGBT, consent
"Many girls with large breasts are unhappy, too. They get tired of stares and comments." p 24 and then on p 30 "You don't have to put up with it."

amyrhoda's review against another edition

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3.0

Some time ago I realized with horror that I have a nine-year-old, and soon things are going to be happening to her body. Things she ought to know about before they start happening. I did some research to find a book which would cover the basics without overwhelming or horrifying her.

There are a lot of books which don't fit the bill. Lots of books talk about dating and boys. There was one which went into more details about birthing a baby than prenatal class did. I finally found this one through Amazon, and bought it at our local indy kids' bookstore.

It's a good book and fits the bill. It's quite light-hearted, with plenty of cartoon-style illustrations. It covers the basics without too much scary stuff (with one exception: see below) and it's appropriate for a younger girl who hasn't yet started puberty.

Two reservations: she uses "egg tubes" instead of "Fallopian tubes", and "lips" instead of "labia". Why? I don't know. I say give Gabriele Falloppio his due and teach the kids a nice long word.

The next one is more major: the last chapter is about harassment and sexual abuse. Lots of nice light-hearted chapters about the exciting changes in your body, and then *boom*, guess what, this is also totally going to suck because now you are eligible for harassment and abuse. I guess it's something you need to know about, but I wish she would have ended on a lighter note.

Of course my kid being who she is, she wasn't freaked out by periods or cramps, body hair, zits, or harassment. No, the thing that made her cry was the one paragraph about bulimia. Because vomiting on purpose is just so wrong.