Love Is in the Hair

Gr 7-10–Thanks to her unknown Greek father, 15-year-old Evia’s extensive body hair takes forever to shave, wax, and bleach. Her best friend Frankie, though, has it worse; the effects of her polycystic ovary syndrome include a full moustache and beard. When uber-mean girl Madison commits a heinously cruel act against Frankie, Evia takes action by founding the Hairy Girls’ Club, to promote natural body hair and free girls from societal expectations. But “smooth-a-licious” Madison, finding a new target, does her vicious worst to tank Evia’s efforts and ruin her life. Then Frankie, unable to tolerate the attention, shuts Evia out. Will Evia have the fortitude to carry on? Societal expectations around body hair have crushed girls for decades, so a book openly addressing the topic and showing girls they are not alone is welcome. Strong characters populate the pages, like the well-intentioned, courageous, and occasionally hapless Evia, who sometimes goes too far. While the poisonous, always-on-the-attack Madison is all too believable, she also has secrets to hide. Other strong secondary characters include Evia’s unexpected romantic interest, a supportive football player, and Evia’s mom with her proudly unshaven legs. Includes frank references to pubic areas and genitals and describes social media photo-bomb images of pubic hair. Evia is cued white. Some secondary characters are BIPOC.