You Be Me: Friendship in the Lives of Teen Girls - Hardcover

Susan Musgrave is a poet, novelist, children's writer, essayist, and columnist. Her last edited collection for teen girls, Nerves Out Loud: Critical Moments in the Lives of Seven Teen Girls, met with critical acclaim. She lives on Vancouver Island with her two daughters.

Gr. 7-12. Both of these books tackle the complex subject of teen girls' friendships, but their approaches are poles apart, so they will probably attract very different readers. In her practical guide, journalist Taylor maintains the format and bouncy voice of teen-oriented magazines, with slang, cutesy wordplay, and plenty of how-tos. Chapters address finding "your type," maintaining friendships, handling arguments and "friendship fallout," having "guy pals," and so on. Readers will like the quizzes, the personality charts, and the advice, which ranges from the extremely frivolous to very serious (helping a friend deal with the death of a parent, for example). Like Musgrave's previous anthology Nerves Out Loud (2001), You Be Me is a collection of edgy, funny, vital stories that get to the heart of teen girls' experience. One selection, for example, shows the friction between growing up and growing apart: "I want to be Liam's friend forever. But I don't even know who I'll be by Christmas." The stories' sharp insight, unsentimental honesty, and sophisticated voices will probably appeal to older, less mainstream YAs than those attracted to Taylor's book, but girls struggling through the minefields of teen friendships will find much to appreciate in both titles. Gillian Engberg
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