Bunk 9's Guide to Growing Up: Secrets, Tips, and Expert Advice on the Good, the Bad, and the Awkward

by Apostolia-Maria Tsimberidou M.D., Meg Hunt (Illustrator)

Overview

Welcome to Bunk 9—and a new girl-powered puberty book girls will want to read.

Based on the lively conceit that it’s written by nine older girls at a fictional summer camp who share their collective been-there, done-that experiences, Bunk 9’s Guide to Growing Up is a puberty book with a twist, an entertaining, up-to-date, supportive guide that covers the head-to-toe changes that young girls go through as they grow up. Since it is written in the voices of different girls, reading it is like listening to your best friend or older sister giving no-nonsense information, advice, and tips on menstruation, breasts, hygiene, health and nutrition, boys, and all the complicated feelings that go along with these changes. Filled with callouts, doodles, and margin notes, it’s a book that’s gentle enough for a third grader and thorough enough for a middle schooler, and it’s vetted by a pediatrician.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761193593
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	12/19/2017
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	152,181
Product dimensions:	7.56(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/25/2017
The enticing conceit behind this guide to puberty is that it’s written by nine girls who spend their summers at Camp Silver Moon. Left behind to educate future campers, the book covers topics that include breasts, menstruation, deodorant, hair removal, and hygiene; a scrapbook layout on lined-paper pages smartly underscores the “found notebook” idea. Hunt’s comics-style portraits of the girls include Polaroid-like snapshots of them through the years, along with a breast growth chart, a model of the reproductive system, and illustrated how-to sequences for using tampons and pads. The girls share anecdotes throughout, emphasizing how bodies develop differently. Channeling the girls’ realistic and reassuring voices, Nuchi captures the uncertainty and excitement of growing up while delivering needed information in a safe, sympathetic, and nurturing manner. Ages 8–12. Illustrator’s agency: Scott Hull Associates. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Nuchi captures the uncertainty and excitement of growing up while delivering needed information in a safe, sympathetic, and nurturing manner." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

"With an engaging premise, lively design, and comprehensive, inclusive content, this has sure-fire appeal—especially to girls who have been to summer camp or dreamed of going. A fresh approach to a subject of perennial interest." —Kirkus

"A fantastic addition to the realm of puberty books...will break down the walls put up by even the shyest of tweens...this book deserves a place on the shelf in every library and classroom where young women gather...will be devoured by tweens." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2017-10-01
The 16-year-olds at Camp Silver Moon look back at their 12-year-old selves to offer advice to girls facing puberty.The nine tightly bonded girls form a consciously diverse group of tall and short, skinny and curvy, athletic and dramatic counselors-in-training whose range of skin tones, hair textures, and experiences allows for advice for preteens and young teens of all sorts. They've organized their guide into chapters about puberty, hygiene, breasts, menstruation, puberty in boys (written by their male counterparts), health, and feelings (including romantic ones). Presented as if handwritten in a lined notebook, it's appealingly decorated. Besides the customary physiological details, they offer advice on such topics as choosing and using brassieres and menstrual supplies, what to do about both head and body hair, and crushes of all sorts. The older girls are frank about variations in maturation (not limited to age of onset), sexual orientation, and gender identification. They often advise turning to an adult (not necessarily a parent) for information and support, but their comments make clear how much they have supported one another during these years of change. With an engaging premise, lively design, and comprehensive, inclusive content, this has sure-fire appeal—especially to girls who have been to summer camp or dreamed of going. A fresh approach to a subject of perennial interest. (Nonfiction. 8-14)

Kirkus Reviews