I received an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of Free Period by Ali Terese. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In Free Period, Gracie and Helen are troublemakers first, anything else second. They’re constantly getting in trouble, prepared to end middle school with a bang. But when they’re sent to the principal’s office yet again, she gives them a new punishment: join the Community Action Club, and care about something other than yourselves for once. The girls aren’t convinced, until they learn that the plan is to convince the school board to stock pads in all school bathrooms to help kids deal with their periods. Helen has just dealt with this problem, caught off guard by her period without supplies. So the two girls throw themselves into the cause, though are determined to put their own mischievous spin on their activism.

I support this book, almost by default, because it will upset people who think that periods and reproductive rights are inappropriate topics of discussion. Tell ’em, Terese!

There’s a lot to like about this book, but also a couple of things I struggled with. On the negative side, I think that the two narrators’ voices weren’t nearly distinct enough. I honestly couldn’t tell sometimes if it was Gracie or Helen speaking, and had to figure it out via context clues. I also don’t think the dialogue really worked. I’ve never really heard any middle schooler talk like this, either now or back when I was that age. In fact, I’ve never heard anyone talk like this. I can’t quite put my finger on what was weird here—it’s probably a combination of word choice, cadence, and sentence structure. No one really sounded natural, or at least not consistently. So that made for a kind of bizarre reading experience.

On the other hand, I loved seeing examples of activism on a middle school level, and the celebration of what young people are capable of. It’s also nice to see even fictional characters open up discussions of topics that have so long been stigmatized. Periods are natural but so misunderstood by a lot of people, and kids will learn a lot from this book. Nothing is graphic to a point that a middle school reader couldn’t handle it, though periods are frankly discussed and described. (Then again, lots of middle school readers would have personally experienced periods, so of course they can handle merely reading about it!)

I also liked watching Gracie and Helen develop over time into less self-centered characters, and how their friendship was tested but ultimately strengthened over the course of the book. The side characters were decent, especially their classmate Madison and Gracie’s aunt Carmella. And there’s a lot of diversity shown in terms of how characters speak about and feel about their menstruation, and it really holds true to life. All voices are welcome in this discussion, as long as they’re willing to listen to other people, and even sometimes to change their mind.

In the end, Free Period is a bold and empowering story. Even if the main characters are somewhat indistinguishable and the dialogue isn’t fully believable, the lessons and themes are excellent. A divisive topic is presented with nuance and depth, yet always taking the side that being empathetic and helping other people are the most important things someone can do. It’s a quick read, but an important voice in the discussion of equity and healthcare.

Free Period is available now!