ALA Booklist (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

YA author Long dives into the advice game in this peppy volume aimed at soothing adolescent girls' way into young adulthood. Before she gets to the advice, she offers a hard truth t's a man's world" ich lays the groundwork for most of her tips. Yes, being a girl can be great, but it can also really suck, and Long aims to emphasize the great parts while minimizing the frustrations. With that in mind, she tackles girlhood from a variety of angles shion, dating, feminism, hygiene, bullying, and so on. With such a broad scope, she never quite gets too in-depth with anything in particular and mentions important but tricky topics with a fairly glib sense of ease, so teens with big questions (body image, gender identity, sexuality, etc.) might find themselves wanting more than this can offer. But this breezy primer, peppered with Correll's genial cartoon illustrations (including diagrams of reproductive organs), is a good starting point for younger teens, and Long's ultimate message ere isn't one right way to be a girl a good one.

Kirkus Reviews

A British author of fiction for teens offers advice to young women in this self-help guide that covers a wide variety of topics. Employing a conversational tone, she begins with an introduction to gender as social construct, sexism, and a brief overview of women's history. Lists of contemporary and historically famous women are ethnically and class diverse. However, the discussion about feminism leaves out the issues of white, straight, and class privilege that often divide feminists, even though another chapter points out the clique hierarchy particular to adolescence that drives wedges between teen girls. From there, the author breezily provides solid health information about periods and puberty, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy, as well as tips about bullying, hairstyles, clothes, hygiene, makeup, body hair and its removal, relationships, and talking to boys. Black-and-white comics and graphics enhance the format. Though mention is made of the possibility that some readers may be gay (and a short note about being transgender is included early on), an entire chapter entitled "Matters of the Heart" presumes that the objects of crushes and dates will be boys, with only a short aside about feelings of attraction toward girls. Though it's informative and often funny, this book's appeal will ultimately be limited due to assumptions that are made about its readers. (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

British author Long addresses the realities of being a modern girl, striking a casual and humorous tone suggestive of a well-informed older sister. Over 10 chapters, she breaks down what to expect when it comes to periods (and their -ordinary awfulness-) and other bodily changes, social dynamics, dating, sexual orientation, and becoming women in what she describes (in a teeny-tiny font) as a -man-s world- (-I-ve said it quietly to try to make it less traumatic to read. But there it is-). Quotations from a student focus group appear throughout, adding perspective from teens still in the midst of growing up, while flowcharts (including an -Ohmygosh, I Like My Female Friend Flowchart-), quizzes, and Correll-s quirky cartoons create a lively presentation. Long-s frank, sympathetic advice will be welcomed by girls seeking affirmation during a time of change. Ages 10-15. (Oct.)

School Library Journal (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Gr 7 Up-Long is like a really cool older sister or friend, giving the inside scoop on sexism, friendships and peer pressure, periods, makeup and fashion, hair care (both head and body), romantic relationships, and sex. She interviewed teen girls and boys about many of these topics and offers some of their answers (in their own handwriting). Correll's comic bookstyle illustrations of girls (and the occasional boy) are silly and funny and fit perfectly with the variety of text stylesfrom thought bubbles to charts (for example, "The Ohmygosh, I Like My Female Friend Flowchart") to silly footnotes. Although Long points out that most readers will not yet be ready for sex, the work does contain straightforward sexual information, including diagrams of male and female reproductive systems, a warning about the necessity of using condoms, and a brief discussion of emergency contraception and abortion. While the bulk of the material is targeted at straight girls, the work is consciously inclusive, examining LGBTQ issues such as gender identity and same-sex attraction and pointing out that those in heterosexual and same-sex romantic relationships encounter many of the same emotional issues. This volume was originally published in England, and its list of resourceshelpful websites (including many .gov sites on bullying, drug abuse, and health) and crisis/hotline phone numbers—has been updated for U.S. readers. Long stresses throughout this guidebook that there is not one right way to be a girl, providing comfort to readers going through the pressures of adolescence. VERDICT Empowering, fun, and helpful—a title teen girls will be sure to cherish.— Jenny Berggren, Longfellow Middle School, Berkeley, CA