'Normal' does not exist: How to survive (and thrive) in your teens

Teenage girls have a lot going on so Rosie Day's brave, disruptive and rule-breaking book could be a  big help

Rosie Day, author of Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon

In the olden days, back in the era of Cathy and Claire in Jackie magazine, teenage girls were allowed to worry about two things — how to blend their blusher, and how to snog boys without clashing teeth. Sex was binary, heteronormative, and known as ‘going all the way’; the biggest concern was avoiding unwanted pregnancy. Anything beyond these basics was not discussed.

Welcome to now, where things are considerably more opened up. These days mental health is talked about with almost the same levels of openness as physical health; so are ideas around consent, boundaries, sexuality, gender, autonomy. Young women like Greta and Malala are helping to change the world and smashing through expectations of what girls can do, by doing it.