Book Beginnings on Fridays and the Friday 56

This week for Book Beginnings on Fridays and The Friday 56 I've selected Kaz Cooke's Girl Stuff: Your full-on guide to the teen years.

Beginning:
This book is designed to be your friend through the teenage years - it will tell you the whole truth and let you make up your own mind about things. It doesn't care if you're in the cool group, or whether you need new pants, or about something that happened three months ago that still makes you blush.

Page 56:
You don't really need to feel too disgusted at the prospect of the teen years being leakier, oilier, sweatier and smellier (not to mention the whole once-a-month period palaver) because luckily you can be in control of it.


Girl Stuff was first published in Australia by Viking in 2007.

Ever since then it has been a huge hit with teenage girls and their parents alike for presenting all the facts in a fun, easy to read, no nonsense way. In recent years I've read lots of boy stuff (only natural since I have two stepsons) but felt it was time to check out the literature available for girls.

I wish I'd had this book when I was a teenager. Even though I grew up in a family of girls, so much was left unsaid. The whole puberty thing was mysterious, embarrassing and something to be got through as quietly and as stoically as possible.

Thank goodness times have changed!