Muslim Girl, Growing Up: A Guide to Puberty by Natalia Nabil and Melani Putri

In-store location: Shelf 4.10

By Natalia Nabil, Illustrated by Melani Putri, Prolance, paperback, 32 pages

Natalia Nabil: I wanted to find a resource that can explain the details of this special stage while also integrating the important aspects of it from the Islamic religion.

Being from the West, most books I found only explained the physiological changes. But I found that Muslim girls, especially ones from Western countries, need to know more about the religious implications of this stage.

So I decided to write this guide to help young girls understand the basic things a Muslim girl should know about puberty, including the religious aspects that come along with it. However, this guide is just a starter to the journey ahead. I encourage parents to talk with their teens and pre-teens about this important stage of life to have a full and thorough understanding.

Includes: What is puberty and its stages, hygiene tips, religious duties to perform and which ones to stay away from, and much more!

About the authors:

Natalia Nabil is a mother of two girls. She was born and raised in Egypt where she received her Bachelors of Arts in Mass Communications from Ain Shams University. Shortly after she began working in public relations and marketing. After marriage, she moved to the United States and is bringing up her daughters in, what she calls, unfamiliar territory. That is why she wanted to write this book, not only as a resource for her growing girls but for the many Muslim girls growing up who could use a guidebook on all things puberty-related.

Melani Putri is an illustrator based in Jakarta, Indonesia. After finishing her visual art education at Bandung Institute of Technology, she has been focusing on children's book illustration and has won the National Folktale Illustration award in 2016. Her illustration works include children's books, greeting cards, posters and stationery. Please visit her website at www.memels.com.