Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume (Bradbury Press, 1970) is the classic puberty book, which talks frankly about a girl’s concerns with menstruation, a changing body, and wearing bras, among other things. But, it is even more about a young girl’s changing perspective on herself, on learning to accept herself as

Read Post

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (HarperCollins, 1940) is a sweet chapter book about five-year-old friends who are across-the-street neighbors. The girls are so inseparable that they are called by a single name: Betsy-Tacy. Betsy is a creative girl who tells stories and Tacy is a shy and quiet girl who nurtures Betsy’s imagination. In many

Read Post

Miss Lina’s Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone (illustrated by Christine Davenier; Feiwel and Friends, 2010) is a cute ballerina picture book about a new girl joining a crew of eight dancers, making the “four lines of two” no longer an option for this tight-knit dance group that does everything together. Their steps are all out of

Read Post

For the Right to Learn by Rebecca Langston-George (Capstone, September 2015) is a picture book biography of Malala Yousafzai that gives younger readers a background of just what she was able to accomplish. I’ve said before that her story is inspiring, and I think this book did a great job of also making it accessible to young

Read Post

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafsai (Little, Brown and Company, 2013) is a powerful story of a girl’s courage to stand up against wrong and demand an education in the Taliban-controlled regions of Pakistan. The work done by Malala, who still is a teenager, is so remarkable that she became the youngest receipt of the Nobel Peace

Read Post

Me, Too! by Annika Dunklee and illustrated by Lori Joy Smith (Kids Can Press, April 2015) is a book about friendship. Annie feels left out when a new girl moves in, because her best friend Lillemore has become friends with someone else! I loved the simple format of this book. It is a pretty straight-forward

Read Post

When I was a kid, I always wanted a twin. Someone who would understand me perfectly. An identical twin would be perfect. Then she would completely understand what it is like to be me. So of course, I loved Sweet Valley Twins and The Parent Trap, the latter, of course, because I did not yet

Read Post

The Princess Problem by Rebecca Hains (Sourcebooks, September 1, 2014) focuses on the issues surrounding the princess culture so rampant in our nation among the youngest of girls. Ms. Hains focuses on the problem with  an emphasis on princesses among young girls, the issues of what is portrayed in the popular princess movies, and what

Read Post