Bunk 9's Guide to Growing Up

Starred review from September 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.

October 1, 2017

Gr 4-7-Some of them have periods, some shave their legs, and others wonder when they'll confront these rites of passage. Faced with the monumental changes that one goes through in puberty, where can a girl turn for answers? Told in a scrapbook style, "curated" by the denizens of one camp cabin, this title is a fantastic addition to the realm of puberty books. Beautifully illustrated by Hunt, the book is full of information presented in a chatty, amiable fashion that will break down the walls put up by even the shyest of tweens. While some of the illustrations could be considered graphic by some, this book deserves a place on the shelf in every library and classroom where young women gather. VERDICT A companion to such classics as Valorie Schaefer's The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls, Nuchi's deep dive into puberty will be devoured by tweens.-Erinn Black Salge, Morristown-Beard School, NJ

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2017
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)

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January 1, 2018
Nine fictional sixteen-year-old girls (all good friends) at camp share personal questions, experiences, health tips, and insecurities as their bodies, relationships, and emotions change. They gather their discoveries in "The Book," intended to be passed along to next summer's twelve-year-old campers. Anecdotes, notes, diagrams, doodles, and other marginalia accompany the informal text, which emphasizes self-acceptance and kindness.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)