One of the many books I enjoyed reading this season (and was highly recommended for purchase) for this year’s WAM 2009 Conference is Rachel Kauder Nalebuff The Editor of her first book, “My Little Red Book.” I am hoping to meet her and have her sign my copy of her remarkable book. The young and very talented Editor, poet and writer does a fantastic job explaining her book.
During an interview from the New Yorker Rachel talks about one of her amazing stories, ”...There is a story from a Kenyan high-school classmate of mine that opened my eyes. I learned from her that in rural Kenya (and most parts of the developing world) girls don’t have access to the sanitary supplies. As a result, they stay home from school during their periods. It’s a serious problem that most of us don’t know about. Her story so surprised me that I decided to use “My Little Red Book” to raise awareness and funds to help solve this problem. All the royalties are being donated to support women’s health and education organizations…”
Rachel edited, collected stories and presented them in a informative and humorous manner that I love. You have to buy her book and read the many stories of a young teenage girl’s first menstrual period. As Rachel mentions in the video, ”...the book is for establishing a dialogue within teenage girls, that they are not alone, it’s also for mothers, confused dad’s, but mostly for teenage girl’s on what they can expect when they receive their first period.”
Why doesn’t this subject not talked about? It’s a act of nature among girls as early as eleven and under. The stories are humorous, truthful, amazing, charming, creative, and awesome to read. I loved how the teenage girls bonded together, even sharing their stash of tampons to help one another out, consoling their friends with hugs and tears.
”...One of the remarkable stories in the book, (and they were many) was about a young girl not yet a teenager, who thought a “period” was part of a sentence structure…thought she was dying, thinking her friends and family might be upset, removed her blood soaked clothes and burned them for eleven days to spare her parents the pain of her dying…”.
Her book is available from the WAM 2009 Conference held at MIT. If you cannot attend the conference, the book is available from www.amazon.com
