HOW I SURVIVED BEING A GIRL
by Wendelin van Draanen
HarperTrophy
ISBN: 0060540737
Ages 8-12
176 pages

Being a girl is no fun. Girls have to wear dresses to school and can't do entertaining things, like have their own paper route. Being a girl means you're not supposed to climb on the roof, or dig foxholes in the yard, or spy on the neighbors. And you're definitely not supposed to like your new baby sister, or have a crush on a friend who's normally nothing more than a stickball buddy.

Right?

Twelve-year-old Carolyn has never thought of herself as a girl. She prefers to keep her hair short and wants nothing to do with dresses, ruffles, or anything that remotely could be considered "girly." But when her baby sister Nancy is born, Carolyn's thoughts toward girls begin to change as she sees that she's not alone in her family anymore.

Lots of gross descriptions and hilarious adventures keep this book moving, though in the end Carolyn disappointingly fails to balance her tomboy nature with the "girly" feelings she experiences. Furthermore, the lack of a timeline is a source of confusion. Though the reader never knows for certain the year in which the book takes place, it seems as if many of Carolyn's anecdotes, such as having to wear dresses to school that aren't mentioned as part of a uniform or not being able to run her own paper route, are problems not usually faced by girls today.

Carolyn herself is smart and fairly likable, but not as inspiring as van Draanen's other major girl hero, Sammy Keyes.

   --- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft Webber

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