This is a book that my own mother had grown up reading, and passed her copy down to me, and I grew up reading it over and over again as one of my "comfort books". Viola Rowe was just as genius as Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary or Lois Lowry when it came to getting into a young girl's head, having thoughts of confusing times...
Rusty Eastman had finally chosen something rebel against: Puberty. But, this was an enemy she could not fight, no matter how she tried... Things were changing all around her, every day, and it was tearing her up inside, making her feel like-- gasp!-- a girl! For starters, her best friend, Jeri, was drifting away from her, turning into a giggly silly, one of those girls Rusty never understood-- having grown up with four brothers. She was starting to need a bra, which she took as a personal attack from her mother, of course, as any hormonal young girl who was embarrassed to suddenly have "things" might...
But, then a family secret is revealed, and this is the very worst time possible for it... can Rusty realize that her family loves her, just for her? And, when she finally meets a nice boy... will she realize it's not so bad being a girl, or mess it up out of embarrassment?
Though the book was clearly written in the sixties, like many other classics, the story is timeless, and all young girls should read it. I was ten the first time I read it-- and read it over and over again over the years, and always wished they would make a movie of it, but not some low budget, badly acted after-school special. Something... like one of those made-for-Hallmark movies. (Because made-for-lifetime or made-for-disney just wouldn't be quite be the right "feel" for this book; not dark enough for lifetime, too "real" for live-action disney of today [though, Disney in the 60s? Would've been PERFECT].)
Rusty Eastman had finally chosen something rebel against: Puberty. But, this was an enemy she could not fight, no matter how she tried... Things were changing all around her, every day, and it was tearing her up inside, making her feel like-- gasp!-- a girl! For starters, her best friend, Jeri, was drifting away from her, turning into a giggly silly, one of those girls Rusty never understood-- having grown up with four brothers. She was starting to need a bra, which she took as a personal attack from her mother, of course, as any hormonal young girl who was embarrassed to suddenly have "things" might...
But, then a family secret is revealed, and this is the very worst time possible for it... can Rusty realize that her family loves her, just for her? And, when she finally meets a nice boy... will she realize it's not so bad being a girl, or mess it up out of embarrassment?
Though the book was clearly written in the sixties, like many other classics, the story is timeless, and all young girls should read it. I was ten the first time I read it-- and read it over and over again over the years, and always wished they would make a movie of it, but not some low budget, badly acted after-school special. Something... like one of those made-for-Hallmark movies. (Because made-for-lifetime or made-for-disney just wouldn't be quite be the right "feel" for this book; not dark enough for lifetime, too "real" for live-action disney of today [though, Disney in the 60s? Would've been PERFECT].)
