In School Library Journal: Let’s Talk Periods: Middle Grade Books About Menstruation

Hop on over to School Library Journal’s site to see my recent article, “Let’s Talk Periods: Middle Grade Books About Menstruation.”

It is fair to say that prior to these books, menstruation was a taboo topic in middle grade and YA literature, and there has been scant reference since then. But more than 50 years post-Margaret, the tide is finally changing. Middle grade books are not just mentioning periods but centering entire plots on them. Focusing on a range of experiences and emotions, authors are destigmatizing menstruation with stories that remove silence, shame, and secrecy and offer a new way to talk about periods, one full of dignity and honesty.

Getting one’s period, a deeply personal event, brings a host of feelings, including fear, joy, and apprehension. But historically, the dominant message has been that bodies and their functions are shameful or embarrassing to discuss. Aida Salazar was inspired to disrupt that with The Moon Within (Scholastic, 2019), written when her daughter approached puberty. Salazar, who is Latina, says in the process of publishing her novel, she discovered some surprising facts. “I was told by the research librarians at Scholastic that there had not been a fictional book centered on menstruation since Judy Blume’s seminal book. I was the first woman of color to ever write about the subject in a middle grade novel. At first, I felt like it was such an honor but not long after, I felt it was a travesty.”

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