Girlology

Where was Girlology when I was a teen?

I'm serious, if I had a resource like this growing up - life would have been a smidgen less dangerous.

Being a girl is complicated enough. Add in boys, hormones, and peer pressure and it can be a messy powder keg waiting for a light. In my experience, I was more than just a little firecracker, I was an entire holiday fireworks show waiting for one errant spark.

Girlology is a safe, spark-free haven for little miss firecrackers everywhere.

Girlology is creation of two doctors, ob-gyn Melisa Holmes and pediatrician Trish Hutchison. They created a site (www.girlology.com) and now a book series that answers some of the (sometimes literally) burning questions girls have about their body, relationships, and sex. The new book: Hang-Ups, Hook-Ups, and Holding Out tackles "stuff you need to know about your body, sex, and dating".

When it arrived in my mailbox from The Parent Bloggers Network, I did my usual flip through to get a feel for the book. But this time instead of putting it down, I sat down and read it in one sitting. I haven't done that sort of thing in ages! Wow - like I said in the beginning - where was this book when I was growing up?

The book tackles some really uncomfortable topics and issues (eg. STDs and rape) in addition to the regular normal teenage girl questions (eg. shaving and acne) but the main focus of this edition is guys, dating, and sex. The questions have come from real! live! teenage girls and the answers are honest, straight-up, and full of sound advice.

The format is the same for each section: a real-life "She Did What?!" story about a topic, followed by a Q&A section, some "myth busters", and "Think It Through" road maps. The "She Did What?!" stories ring true and would have totally gotten my attention as a teen. The teenage motherbumper would have hung on each page, answer, idea, and coping strategy.

What I liked best about this book was the target audience: both parent and teen. The topics can be touchy and really uncomfortable for many parents to discuss and a book like this can make it easier. Even if a discussion doesn't come about, at least the advice is sound and healthy.

Honestly, I'm a nervous mom since having a girl. I want her to be confident and able to deal with these topics but I know that she needs the right information and resources to cope. This is the kind of book series that I hope is still around in a decade when Bumper hits puberty - knowledge is power and being a girl is one powerful job.