And as recently as 2016, it was still spending time on the New York Times best-seller list. The book, which turns 20 years old in September, has sold more than 5.1 million copies since its initial release. I wasn’t the only one who found solace in The Care and Keeping of You. I snuck the book off of her dresser that night, and, crouched next to the night-light in my room, I read about periods and vaginas, and the hormones that would change my body from “little girl to grown-up woman.” I came back to the book many times in the coming years, including when I eventually got my own period two years later. “We’ll read more when you’re older,” she said. But after we finished reading about the difference between training and underwire bras, my mom closed the book. As my mom and I read the book together, I remember feeling a little less afraid of what my body would become. Each page featured smiling cartoon girls of all races and sizes demonstrating everything from how to shave your legs to how to shop for a first bra. The head-to-toe guide started by explaining that “ everybody” goes through puberty, and then broke down into sections on everything from regular body hygiene to getting your period for the first time. On the opening spread was a letter to readers: “The more you know about your body, the less confusing and embarrassing growing up will seem-and the easier it will be to talk about.” The book, which was published by American Girl, was called The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls. Just before I started middle school, my mom handed me a large white book with three cartoon girls on the cover, each wrapped in a towel, dripping wet, as though fresh out of the shower. I first learned about periods from a cartoon.

The caring and keeping of you pdf