A review by nssutton
Funny Girl by Betsy Bird

3.0

It took me a while to get to this one, but when a kid nervously whispers to you upon returning it, "There's a story about periods in here," you say, hmm, I should probably move that up on my queue. It's not quite what I had hoped for, in a way that feels almost wrong of me to admit. Based on reviews, author list, and story formats, I've recommended it to our 3rd-5th reluctant readers, but really it's for our 4th and 5th graders with more than one toe into puberty. It's going to be a fine line recommendation wise - some of the girls who have read it were mortified when I told them I was going to read it, as if I too wasn't once this age and thirsty for stories about making those more unpleasant parts of "becoming a woman" normalized and okay (hello "A Public Service Announcement About Your Period from Sarah T. Wrigley, Age 12 3/4"). How to Play Imaginary Games was like my exact childhood, whenever I wasn't reading.