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Elana K. Arnold is the award-winning author of many books for children and teens, including the Sydney Taylor Book Award and National Jewish Book Award winner The Blood Years, the Michael L. Printz Award winner Damsel, the National Book Award Finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and the Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat. More about this author >
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When Nina Faye was fourteen, her mother told her there was no such thing as unconditional love. Nina believed her. Now she’ll do anything for the boy she loves, to prove she’s worthy of him. But when he breaks up with her, Nina is lost. What is she if not a girlfriend? What is she made of? Broken-hearted, Nina tries to figure out what the conditions of love are.
Elana K. Arnold’s What Girls Are Made Of examines what it means to be a girl, a woman, a physical object—to own oneself and to be owned by others. This challenging work invites readers to look within themselves and explore their own identities and imperfections. A strong backbone of feminist mythology gives the novel an extra layer of depth and pain. The result is both devastating and healing, and altogether unforgettable.
