Book recommendations about the complicated and (often) anxiety-inducing mess that is being a teen girl.
It is impossible to encompass girlhood and what it feels like to be and grow up as a young girl in one specific definition. That is why I chose a diverse group of books for this list that can offer new ideas and portray some relatable aspects of what it feels like to be an adolescent girl. Even if each one of us experiences girlhood in a unique and personal way, the search for identity and belonging is an essential part of growing up.
It is, in fact, very hard to be a girl. Feeling the pressure of multiple institutions over one’s actions and appearance is overwhelming, more so when everything seems designed to overlook differences instead of addressing them. There is not one specific way of being a girl, and learning things about yourself can be surprisingly difficult.
Is well over time to talk about adolescence with a nuanced approach. Discussing growing up as a girl is a complicated and sometimes confusing process, and it is infused by a plethora of factors. I created this list hoping that it reaches teen girls, who can empathise and connect with different aspects of these stories. That this can help them feel accompanied through the hurdles of adolescence and see some of their experiences reflected in literature. For the adults around them the books can be reminders of how complicated this process is and offer new perspectives of growing up in the 21st century.
“There is not one specific way of being a girl, and learning things about yourself can be surprisingly difficult. Is well over time to talk about adolescence with a nuanced approach”.
This list contains coming-of-age stories that portray girlhood as a wide spectrum, with themes of family and friendship, acceptance, discrimination and belonging. All selected books include the influence of identity and change while being a teen. Each character can identify with one or more of these characteristics: working class, queer, disabled, non-white and/or fat.
1. Gabi: A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero (2014)
Through her journal, Gabi, a Mexican-American girl, narrates her last year in high school: first loves, college applications, drug issues, a friend’s pregnancy, other students coming out, and her struggles with body image. Gabi’s senior year is nothing but complicated and eventful.
2. Barely Floating by Lilliam Rivera (2023)
Nat (12 years old, fat, and Latina), struggles filtering her anger, often cursing and fighting others. After seeing an artistic swimming demonstration, she falls in love with the sport. The problem? Her parents don’t approve of it, and so she creates a web of lies to get her way.
3. The Year my Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Maia Arlow (2023)
Al (12 years old and possibly queer) has been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at the most inconvenient time: right at the start of a new school year. Now she has to run to the bathroom constantly. This has made her mum even more overprotective, and her best friend Leo is always hanging out with his theatre friends now. So Al decides to join the hospital’s support group for young people. There she might learn more than she had ever expected.
4. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (2017)
Aven just moved to Arizona, USA, and now has to explain to everyone why she doesn’t have arms. Slowly, she bonds with her classmate, Connor. Together, they are determined to decipher the mystery behind the forgotten Stagecoach Pass room.
5. Free Period by Ali Terese (2024)
Helen and Gracie are best friends, and hard-core pranksters. Until one of their shenanigans lands them in the principal’s office, leading them to join the school’s Community Action Club. Although they planned to do as little as possible in the club, Helen’s menstrual accident propels the girls to lead the club’s campaign for maxi pads in bathrooms. They will use all in their power, and some glittery tricks, to advertise for this change.
6. Starfish by Lisa Fipps (2021)
Ellie has been bullied for her weight all her life. She has adopted strategies to hide her body, hoping to avoid making the bullying worse. The pool is the only space where she feels comfortable; where she can take up all the space she wants, and can distance herself from her mum, who loves suggesting diets for Ellie. With the support of her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbour Catalina, she can feel accepted. In this novel, Ellie navigates self-worth, owning her voice, and learns to take up the space she deserves in the world.
These books open up the discussion for different experiences of growing up as a girl, talking about social expectations, the difficulties of making friends, and being able to feel at peace with one’s body.
SLIDING MAGAZINE 
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