Go With the Flow

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Established friends Abby, Brit, and Christine swoop in and introduce themselves, whisking her away to the bathroom to calmly inform her that her period has leaked through her white pants.

and 7 classes…I asked the teacher-librarian what she thought the reaction would be if I introduced this book in front of the class and she thought it was a good idea. And in all honesty, based on how this book accomplished the goals it set out to achieve, it should probably be 4 stars. One of the main characters has endometriosis, which is a refreshing addition to the few YA books which explore this ( The Girls I've Been, Dark and Deepest Red, and Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement do this).It certainly brought up topics we had not discussed before, and made her more aware of what she might face soon – and that it’s totally normal. Not just as a funny graphic novel, but as something that will show them that this is a normal part of life. Kids are less afraid these days to speak out and pursue various forms of activism, but this takes it to a whole other level.

is going to see this cover, completely miss the double meaning behind the title and the subtitle, and want to pick this up for a read. Schneemann and Williams break barriers with this fictional friendship story centered on the subject of menstruation. Different shades, you betcha, but this isn’t one of those books where the color scheme shifts or adds a new color at a significant point in the proceedings. The girls who read this book and take it upon themselves to follow in its wake are honestly going to be extraordinary humans. This is one of the more realistic and nuanced turns in a work that at times prioritizes education over storytelling.The girls’ group is inclusive, encompassing different heights, skin colors, races, and body types; Brit, who openly discusses her struggles with endometriosis, has brown skin and a full figure, Sasha is Asian and petite, tall and lanky Christine, White, is coming to understand her same-sex attraction, and Abby is White with red hair and a curvy figure. Readers who find the topic a little embarrassing will see the word "period" used so often that it becomes casual conversation within the book. Until she meets Christine, Brit, and Abby—3 best friends—who help her out with a public “flow” problem. New girl Sasha Chen worries she’s marked for life when her first period stains her white pants for all to see. Then came the election of 2016, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Women’s March, and any number of other factors that suddenly made those old “protest novels” look downright quaint.