What every girl (except me) knows, by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Gabby Weiss is twelve. Of the three journals she keeps, one is an ongoing list titled “Things I Need to Know to Be a Woman.” Gabby has no YBF (Your Best Friend). She lost her mother when she was three. It is these disclosures that begin What every girl (except me) knows and outline the issues that Gabby deals with in sixth grade.

When Gabby’s dad gets serious with Cleo, Gabby couldn’t be more excited at the opportunity to learn things like how to pick out the perfect Winter coat. Then a new girl, Taylor, enrolls at New Paltz School and the two quickly become YBFs, with their own inside jokes and even a spot in the cafeteria. However, as Taylor laments about rarely seeing her father after her parents’ divorce, Gabby realizes she may not have come to terms with the loss of her own mother. She simply knows it was “an accident” but since she was so young when it happened, has only relied on others’ descriptions of that fateful day. The novel explores in depth the matter of establishing one’s identity as a woman without a mother figure.

Tween girls will sympathize with Gabby’s attempts to navigate the vicious middle school social strata. Gabby is also a generally admirable and kind protagonist, in that she sympathizes with girls from all circles, including Lynette (the weird girl) and Amanda, who hangs with “The Ones.” (Okay, she does use the word “asshole” when she has to stop the popular cliques from harassing the new girl.) It is worth mentioning that this library paperback was well-worn, almost falling apart in my hands, supporting my suspicion that this is a book tweens girls will secretly read in bed until one in the morning.

Baskin, N.R. (2001). What every girl (except me) knows. New York: Dell Yearling. ISBN 978-0440418528.