A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Stigmatizing a natural part of life isn't fair to all the girls, women, and trans men (as the authors point out in their afterward) who experience menstruation. When one the new girl, Sasha, unexpectedly gets her period, a trio of girls--Brit, Christine, Abby--come to her rescue. Beyond periods, it's also just a great friendship story about high school friends supporting each other and dealing with all the stuff that high school throws at you.

I cannot imagine how painful the sanitary belt with metal clips was for my mom, and it made me grateful for technological advances. When the principal says to her, “It’s not like the boys get free jock itch cream,” it can be mighty hard not to start screaming at the page. Kids are less afraid these days to speak out and pursue various forms of activism, but this takes it to a whole other level. Of course, there is the question of whether the average tween reader is going to pick up a book about periods and check it out of the library or read it in front of other people. With its alluring red-hued duotone art, this graphic novel successfully empowers readers and guides them to speak up and reclaim agency when they feel something is not right with not only their own bodies, but with the world around them.The girls want to demolish the shame around menstruation, but when Abby takes the protest too far, their friendship is tested. A girl getting her period at 10 is now becoming more common, which means we have to teach our kids (not just teens) about this earlier. I have felt mad (this is so dystopian), joyful (hah – we made a powerful enough book to make people uncomfortable), but mostly upset. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis.

I often missed days of school due to extremely painful cramps so I found Brit especially relatable, even as an adult. As they struggle against a resistant principal, the girls also find themselves testing the bounds of friendship. But with the lack of any and all information, I think updating the one and only book on the shelves to discuss it for so long made sense. And if nothing else, it is a good conversation starter, and there is a lot of interesting information about periods in there.Abby aspires to make a difference, and the dismissive attitude of the school administration to her complaints about the tampon dispensers in the bathrooms is getting her riled up. It'll get kids thinking, and hopefully talking, about topics they may have otherwise thought of as something to keep private.