It’s aimed at teens but I’m going to purchase it for my Year 7/8s as I know some of them would enjoy it. High school students embark on a crash course of friendship, female empowerment, and women's health issues in Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann's graphic novel Go With the Flow. Some of the older girls have even started teasing her, but there is a girl in her gym class who consistently stands up for her. What follows is a fabulous read that acts as a primer for activism while also giving each girl her own storyline. We became fast friends and at some point towards the end of our college careers we started discussing why there wasn’t more art about menstruation in a way kids and teens could read/learn about.

Families can talk about why the principal in Go with the Flow reacted the way he did to the girls' request.One decides to fight for free feminine hygiene products in the restroom, another reflects on her extremely painful periods. 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). Lily Williams and Karen Scheeman have created a candid and down-to-earth graphic novel that perfectly captures the teen experience; the conversations between these friends are refreshing in their directness, as the girls refuse to feel shame over their own bodily functions, even when everyone around them wants to. You’re just kind of throwing it out there like, “Oh, yeah, the tampon tax is a thing people talk about! If you're interested in hearing more about my thoughts about this one check out my review: https://youtu.

The Humanities building at my UNIVERSITY only had one machine that ever worked, and it was so old that we used to joke that you needed one of those old timey belts to go with the pad. Go with the Flow points out that periods don’t just happen to girls and women but also to transgender men and some gender nonconforming persons. Luckily, she talks to her new friend the next day and they have a comfortable conversation about it. When these four best friends notice that the boys have brand-new football uniforms and equipment while the girls bathrooms are still shamefully bereft of feminine hygiene products, they decide to take matters into their own hands. And if nothing else, it is a good conversation starter, and there is a lot of interesting information about periods in there.Until she meets Christine, Brit, and Abby—3 best friends—who help her out with a public “flow” problem.

I understand that this is intended as a book to empower people with periods and address the injustices they face. This warm, candid friendship story isn't shy about the message it's trying to send--that periods need not be a dirty secret. Expressive black-and-white illustrations enlivened by a winkingly all-red palette make for a quick, enjoyable read.What starts out as an annoyance quickly grows into a cause, but how do you get the world to notice something it simply doesn’t want to see?