Growing Up Powerful - Rebel Girls - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Rebel Girls

GENRE: Children's Nonfiction,

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: Unlike any Rebel Girls book so far. This book deals with the perks and the problems of adolescence. Somewhat text-intensive, but informative and relevant.

The Rebel Girls team is known for their incisive books that provide mini-bios of inspiring women from the past and present. They have always been all-encompassing in terms of their content, staying inclusive and inspiring. This new offering remains true to the Rebel Girls spirit, but in terms of content, it is a step in a new (and welcome) direction.

As the title suggests, this book is all about growing up. Not just growing up, but ‘growing up powerful.’ Aimed at the 8-14 year age group, the book covers varied topics as are necessary for little girls to transition into mature, self-loving women who know that their physical features don’t dictate who they are and who understand their body and mind.

As a mother to two girls, I already own a couple of puberty-related children’s books and have read plenty more through NetGalley. So what struck me the most was the approach of this book, which is not like any of the books I’ve read so far in this genre.

This book begins with mental health (dealing with how the brain initiates physical and hormonal changes, and covering topics such as mental health issues, calming techniques, and so on). In all the other books I have read, mental health, if it does make an appearance, gets a couple of pages towards the end. So the pride of place given to this factor helps highlight how mental health is the most important for our wellbeing.

The next section is obviously about physical health. Again, the book doesn’t just stop at talking about bodily changes during puberty, but also covers the role of muscles, the variation in physiques, and even physical disability. The first two sections thus focus on biological growth.

Next up are two sections with social growth, covering the twin factors that dominate teenage years – family and friendships. The content details out how children can connect better with the key people in their life, and also how to navigate online friendships on social media. Dealing with peer pressure, bullying, crushes,… all come under these sections.

Last but not the least is the final section that speaks of how to contribute in making the world better. After all, growing up powerful is pointless if it has only a self-serving agenda.

On the pro side, the content is quite comprehensive. There are fun interactive quizzes and case studies along the way, and also answers by experts to questions sent in by young readers. Interspersed in between are quotes by Rebel Girls champs from the other books. There’s a list of helpful resources at the end of the book. The book also covers complicated topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity. The colourful illustrations match the content perfectly, staying inclusive throughout the book.

If I have to point out the minor negative, it would be that in trying to cover everything, the book sometimes loses focus and goes in too deep. Younger kids might not understand the entire content due to this. For instance, talking about the body’s immune-defense system is still fine in the physical health section, but does the content need to talk about phagocytes and leukocytes? Or is knowing the types of bones important to understand how bones keep out body strong? Little readers who aren’t science-savvy might be scared off by the big scientific-sounding words. As it is, the content is text-intensive, so it should have kept the biological terms as generic and simplified as possible.

I read this book along with my elder daughter; her feedback was that compared to ‘Just For Girls’ – another puberty and growth related book that also has reader quizzes and questions, this one is a lot more comprehensive and focusses on topics beyond physical and mental changes during adolescence. Thus she liked this a lot more, though she shared my opinion about its getting too scattered at times. (FWIW, she rated this book 4.5 stars.)

All in all, definitely a worthy addition to the Rebel Girls repertoire, though it might suit an age group older than most current Rebel Girl readers. If you have a young girl in your life, this would make for a great addition to her personal library as it focusses on self-care in every way. That powerful title should seal your deal.

My thanks to Rebel Girls and NetGalley for the DRC of “Growing Up Powerful”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.