Free Period

Gr 3-7–Eighth grade besties Helen and Gracie are known school pranksters who hope to pull off an epic prank before exiting middle school (Prankuation!). Helen and Gracie are joined at the hip, and their fed-up parents work to separate them, much to the girls’ dismay. After a few too many pranks, their frustrated principal sentences them to a unique punishment: they have to care! They are sentenced to the Community Action Club and are given one month to accomplish something of importance to the school. Told in alternating first-person narratives by the duo, the girls rally for period equity at school, with free menstruation products in all bathrooms, so students can avoid embarrassment and inconvenience. Told with sassy, humorous dialogue, this tale is rife with strong secondary characters, such as “mean girl” Madison, and boys the girls have crushes on. As the project picks up steam, the codependent friends begin to exert their independence, and their differing personalities emerge. Obstacles abound as the girls learn how to advocate and get their demands met in more diplomatic manners. An author’s note discusses normalizing menstruation for all, whether you’re a Gracie who loves talking all things periods, or a Helen who’d prefer to keep things private.