P.S. Tell No One Coming Feb 2023

Behold the show-stopping cover of my next middle grade novel, P.S. TELL NO ONE coming from Scholastic Canada in February 2023. All of my books are close to my heart, but this one is super special to me. For years I’ve referred to this as “my period book,” and while I dare you to find a middle grade novel with more talk of period products and menstrual blood, at its core, P.S. TELL NO ONE is a book about connection and conversation, and how both things are the antidote to shame.

When I was in grade six, my friends are I were part of a pass-around diary. Instead of passing notes, we wrote down our thoughts, feelings, worries, and plans and discussed them at great length in a series of journals. In their pages, we could say things that were too hard to say aloud. In P.S. Tell No One I wanted to recreate that safe space. In Twix, Hoops, MP and Sunny, I hear echoes of myself, my friends, and the kids in my life.

This book is designed to look and read like a diary. It features brilliant design choices from Yvonne Lam and amazing spot art from Holly Allerellie. Trust me, you’ve never seen a cuter rendition of the female reproductive system. Just look at this full cover. That Lisa Frank colour palette, the pad (with wings!), the energy and spirit of the girls in the polaroid…it’s perfect and I couldn’t love it more. The background also happens to be very similar in colour to the frames of the glasses I wore in middle school. What can I say? In the 90s we lived for teal!

Cover design by Yvonne Lam, cover art by Holly Allerellie

When kids have questions, especially sensitive ones, they often turn to books. Followers of this blog know that I have long been mystified (and miffed) and the absence of periods in middle grade fiction. I keep an updated list of middle grade books with periods in them here. The gold standard, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, is great, but it’s 52 years old. My hope is that P.S. Tell No One will be a raft for a new generation of kids who find themselves treading in the rocky waters of puberty. Full of humour, nitty-gritty facts, and real talk, P.S. Tell No One is the kind of book kids will pass on to each other and say, “You HAVE to read this!”

There are lots of fun things in the works for P.S. Tell No One, so stay tuned for giveaways, events, and fun goodies. In the meantime, you can pre-order:

Why do so few characters get their periods in kids’ books?

This was originally posted on May 28, 2020

Today is Menstrual Hygiene Day, a day dedicated to busting taboos and myths around periods. Fifty percent of the population gets a period, and yet people are still uncomfortable talking about it. There are lots of great non-fiction books for kids that cover puberty, but what about fiction?

Most menstruators get their periods between 10-15 years old, so why don’t we see the topic covered more in middle grade fiction? It’s not like it isn’t front of mind for adolescents! As a kid, I remember actively flipping through novels looking for any mention at all of periods, with very little success. Thank goodness for Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret. But while still relevant and an important read, that book is 50 years old. Isn’t it time for more periods in our middle grade fiction? In a time of heightened confusion around consent and sexual education, isn’t it urgently necessary?

"Isn’t it time for more periods in middle grade fiction?

I want to share an experience I had during a school visit that has never, ever left me. As an author, I get the pleasure of visiting schools and talking to students. It is one of the most rewarding parts of my job.  I visited a school that had selected my first novel WORDS THAT START WITH B as the seventh grade read. I was thrilled until the organizer let it slip that they skipped the chapters where the narrator gets her period. She told me they moved right onto the road trip, “and nobody noticed a thing. You could have left that part out entirely.” I was stunned, but let it slide. After all, I was thankful they had selected my book. The kids- girls AND boys- loved it, and stayed behind to tell me so and ask questions about what my characters would do next.

But years later I am still bothered by the omission of those chapters.  They are significant to my character. They are significant to me. All girls have known the anxiety and fear of What If I Get It At School. Writing this chapter was an acknowledgment of that anxiety. When a young reader sees a reflection of themselves or their experiences in a book they know they aren’t alone. I wanted girls to read that chapter and think, “Yes! I feel the same way!” and for boys to read that chapter and think, “I never thought about that before” and perhaps feel more informed. Books manage difficult topics in the safest way possible.

I couldn’t get over the image in my mind of the kid in the class who read ahead (there’s always at least one), knew the chapter was coming, sitting there waiting for teacher to read it, thrilled to finally address periods as something normal and worthy of discussion- and then the shock when the teacher skips ahead. The disbelief about what just happened. And eventually, the shame. By omitting periods from fiction what we say to kids is, “This is secret, this is shameful, this isn’t a human experience, it’s only a girl’s experience, and girls’ experiences don’t matter.” Not to mention the experiences of trans and nonbinary kids.

So let’s make a list and share it widely! What fictional, middle grade books (ages 9-12) that actively mention periods or menstruation do you love? Please send me your recommendations and I’ll add them here. Let’s bust some taboos together! Visit the Menstrual Hygiene Day website for more resources. If you’re in Canada, be sure to check out national charity The Period Purse for ways to get involved all year round.

2022 Update

Since posting this in 2020, I put my pen where my mouth is and decided to write my own book that, among many other things, addresses hopes, fears, anxieties and truths around puberty, menstruation, and the emotional and physical changes that happen during adolescence. I can’t wait for you all to read P.S. Tell No One. I am so proud of this book and I hope it finds lots of readers!

Middle Grade Books That Include Menstruation