Flow

November 9, 2009
Written like a sassy young women's magazine with first-person narrative and the occasional astonished exclamation point, a normally taboo topic claims attention with the surprising-and sometimes horrifying-history of cultural reactions to menstruation (Pliny believed menstrual blood was toxic to flora and fauna), feminine "hygiene," and the enticing yet under-researched future of period-free birth control methods. Sprinkled throughout with entertainingly naïve ads from each era of the 20th-century as well as many references to scientific findings, author and graphic designer Stein and Kim, a graphic novelist (Circle of Spies) and writer of the play adaptation of The Joy Luck Club, evoke a light-hearted tone about their serious subject. They cover everything from menarche to menopause, including what menstruation is (which receives an outstandingly clear explanation) plus an enlightening discussion of the pad v. tampon debate, which at bottom was a sophisticated marketing strategy. Perfect for a preteen's introduction to adulthood and for women of all ages, this is guaranteed to spark conversation about old early sanitary technology (belts and pins), the pad's evolution, during WWI, when nurses found cellulose bandages more absorbent than plain cotton, and whether this universal female experience is a blessing, a curse-or just part of life.

Starred review from November 15, 2009
Stein and Kim wonder whether, in all of human history, anything else has been so reviled, so honored, so fear-inspiring, so mysterious (even to its hostesses), or so marketable as menstruation. Throughout millennia, the monthly act of shedding blood has stymied everyone from religious leaders to philosophers to physicians and scientists. Until the Industrial Revolution, that is, when feminine-care marketers began hauling in carloads of profits on the strength of proving to women that their monthly body function needed this gizmo or that potion, all the while referring to menstruation only in the most oblique termsall that even a sumptuary society allowed. But at long last, along have come these two women to give us as plain-speaking, comprehensive, and witty a compendium of menarcheal information and reference as weve ever had. There is probably no better book for moms who want their daughters to respect themselves in every aspect, and for female preteens and teens who would never say a word about their moms reading a book about menses but surely would like several sneak peeks into its pages. One can only ask Stein and Kim, What took you so long?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)