Go With The Flow

WRITTEN BY Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann

Illustrated by Lily Williams

Colored by Kaley Bales, Lily Williams, and Karen Schneemann

Published by FIRST SECOND

ISBN: 9781250143174

Good friends help you go with the flow.
Best friends help you start a revolution.

Sophomores Abby, Brit, Christine, and Sasha are fed up. Hazelton High never has enough tampons. Or pads. Or adults who will listen. 

Sick of an administration that puts football before female health, the girls confront a world that shrugs—or worse, squirms—at the thought of a menstruation revolution. They band together to make a change. It’s no easy task, especially while grappling with everything from crushes to trig to JV track but they have each other’s backs. That is, until one of the girls goes rogue, testing the limits of their friendship and pushing the friends to question the power of their own voices.

Now they must learn to work together to raise each other up. But how do you stand your ground while raising bloody hell?

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TRANSLATIONS

North American English, South Korean, Italian, French, Spanish, German

PRAISE FOR Go With The Flow

“Just bloody perfect.”

Kirkus Reviews, starred review ★

“The creators nimbly incorporate issues of sexuality and social media, creating contemporary parentheticals in a heartening period story.”

Publishers Weekly

“This warm, candid friendship story isn’t shy about the message it’s trying to send―that periods need not be a dirty secret. Pair it with nonfiction memoir companions by Shannon Hale and Raina Telgemeier.”

School Library Journal

“…the story is firmly grounded in the realities faced by girls and women, and the timely messages of empowerment and political dialogue will resonate with socially minded youth.”

– Booklist

“Based on Williams and Schneemann’s webcomic The Mean Magenta, this potent fusion of feminism and friendship aims to normalize conversation about menstruation, with an authentically diverse group of main characters who differ in race, sexual orientation, family structure, body type, and period pain. Williams gets the life-as-a-high-schooler details just right in expressive panels shaded in—what else?—red tones. An authors’ note, facts about menstruation, and suggested resources are appended.”

– Horn Book Review

“Schneemann and Williams break barriers with this fictional friendship story centered on the subject of menstruation. In the book, four high school girls band together to persuade their school administration to make feminine hygiene products freely available in all of the girls’ restrooms. As they struggle against a resistant principal, the girls also find themselves testing the bounds of friendship. The book concludes with a section for readers interested in further information on a topic that sometimes is hard to discuss.”

Karen MacPherson for The Washington Post

“Shades of red aptly make up the book’s palette, and the cartoony style and figures resemble the Lumberjanes comic books. Fans of that series will appreciate this mix of friendship power and activism.”

The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Recommended

Go With The Flow is an exceptional example of the genre, and its power is in its frank way of being relatable to a difficult subject. It speaks to the nature of gender dynamics and institutional misogyny in an approachable manner that will help teens discuss their period and their rights openly and honestly, and understand that they can demand better from those in authority. The artwork is dynamic and bold, and the use of color gives the entire work a sense of depth that is unexpected.”

Romper

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BEIJING PANDA BOOK AWARDS MATURE READER CATEGORY, winner, 2021-2022

SSBOY, winner, 2021

MICHIGAN READING ASSOCIATION GREAT LAKES BOOK AWARD, winner, 2021

EISNER AWARD, BEST PUBLICATION FOR KIDS, nominee, 2021

LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE, finalist, 2020

ALA NOTABLE BOOK, 2020

YALSA GREAT GRAPHIC NOVELS, 2021

RISE: A FEMINIST BOOK PROJECT 2021 BOOKLIST

KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF 2020

NPR’S BEST BOOK OF 2020

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY’S TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2020

CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY’S BEST OF THE BEST, 2020

TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION MAVERICK LIST, 2021

INDIE NEXT LIST, 2020