Girlfriend Magazine, Life Hacks, Hachette, April 2016, 210pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780733635755
Girlfriend, the teenage magazine produced by Pacific Magazines, has gathered much of the advice given out in its pages to compile this book about adolescence. Divided into nine chapters, topics range from physical changes to love, sex stuff to head space. The information has come from a range of experts, acknowledged at the end of the book, and the book has a feeling of authority softened by contemporary teenage language that addresses the reader directly. The text is fairly dense with some illustrations and boxes breaking the blocks of words.
There is a positive tone to this book, with large sections devoted to girls looking after themselves and taking care of their mental health. The handy list of contacts at the back will hopefully stay current for a while yet, while generic advice steers reader towards the types of professionals needed for certain health and well being situations. A useful book for readers who don’t mind searching through paragraphs of information to get what they need.
Reviewed by Pam Harvey
