Review: Girlology

Have you noticed that the 80's are back in fashion? There's something disconcerting about seeing pre-teen girls wearing the exact same style of clothing that I wore when I was their age in the mid-eighties.

After reading the latest book on my Parent Bloggers review shelf, I realized that I shouldn't be surprised. Fashions never change and neither do all those questions that every teenage girl is afraid to ask. The only thing that's different now is that it's a lot easier to get answers. The right answers? That's a whole different story.

Girlology: Hang-Ups, Hook-Ups, and Holding Out is a book of questions and answers for teen girls, written by Melisa Holmes (an ob-gyn) and Trish Hutchison (a pediatrician.) The topics cover the adolescent angst spectrum from acne to alcohol, ADD to STDs, hormones to hymens. The answers are quick and easy, and best of all honest.

Each chapter also begins with a short story called "She Did What?" The author's say that the names in the stories have been changed, but the stories themselves are real. These sections have that signature after-school special feel to them. And just like the after-school specials of my youth, they're not necessarily artfully written, but I secretly enjoyed them anyway.

I was surprised at how interested I was in reading Girlology. I'm about 20 years too late for it to be helpful to me and about 20 years too early for it to be helpful to me in talking to Annabella. And yet, I was still fascinated by the topics and still surprised at how much I still didn't know about the opposite sex.

Is this book for you?

If you're a teenage girl? Yes. If you're the mother, father, friend, teacher, or confidant of a teenage girl? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

These days the questions that my kids ask me are fascinating and fun to answer. The most complicated Annabella has gotten lately was "Why do girls get to wear leotards to gymnastics and boys just wear regular clothes?" I realize that with the diapers, baby gates, and temper tantrums, so go these easy questions. I'm not saying that Girlology will offer all the answers, but I do hope that when the time comes it will give Annabella and I a place to start the conversation.

Comments

[Darlene Hull]

Sounds like a GREAT book. I'm always looking for things like this for my daughter who's just about to turn 13. They help you get some great discussion going!

Darlene
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