Go With The Flow
Written by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann; illustrated by Lily Williams
Published by First Second
Available January 14, 2020
Ages 10+

Imagine you’re the new girl at Hazelton High, just trying to figure out her locker combination when all of a sudden everyone is staring at you, pointing at you, laughing. You have no idea what’s going on until a friendly face, no three friendly faces, appear and whisk you to the restroom. There you learn you got your period, and that it bled through onto your pants. Oh, yeah, and everybody saw. That’s what happens to Sasha, Hazelton High’s newest sophomore. She was feeling alone before, but now? Well, now she has three new buds—Abby, Brit, and Christina—who have her back. But while Abby freely hands over her emergency pad, the girls realize: all the pad and tampon machines are out of supplies. Always!

The main story revolves around this diverse friend group fighting for female health and empowerment, but it’s about much more: questioning your sexuality, the boundaries of friendship, and finding your place in the world. This graphic novel, with images depicted in spot-on red hues, is warm and appealing. Folks mess up, and conflict between friends is explored with “calling in” and understanding rather than shame and exclusion. Moreover, this graphic novel normalizes menstrual talk and posits that openness about menstruation is necessary for women’s wellbeing. In their authors’ note, Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann say they wanted to create the story they needed when they were growing up, and they deliver. Williams and Schneemann share their own experiences with period pain and fluctuating menstrual cycles; they offer readers valuable resources for their own health and changing bodies, aimed at pre-teens and teens alike.