Melisa Holmes

"Can you talk to my daughter about her period?"

"Can you explain sex to my daughter and tell her all the horrible things that will happen to her if she does it?"

"Can you check my daughter to see if she is a virgin?"

"How do I start a conversation with her about sex?"

These are the questions I heard on a fairly regular basis in my practice of Ob-Gyn, specializing in Adolescent Gynecology. Some great questions. Some scary ones. It was very clear to me that girls need honest answers, and so do parents!

I have always been passionate about helping girls feel confident and make healthy choices, especially when it comes to relationships and sexuality. That's why I called my favorite pediatrician, Dr. Trish Hutchison, and we started Girlology.

Through Girlology, we wanted to give good answers to these questions and more -for girls AND their parents. We started offering programs for moms an daughters to talk about the stuff that parents were afraid to talk about - but girls needed to hear. As our programs grew beyond our ability to travel, a book seemed the natural next step.

Now, three books later, we're still passionate about working with girls and the people that care about them to help promote healthy, real-life, medically accurate education about sexuality and the things that influence it.

"Girlology's There's Something New About You" is for girls 8-12 who are facing puberty or hitting their puberty stride. "Girlology: A Girl's Guide to STuff that Matters" is for middle school and junior high school girls. It covers sex, relationships, decision making, emerging sexuality and girl power. Our book for high school girls, "Hang Ups, Hook Ups & Holding Out" answers questions that high school girls have been asking us for years about sex, boys, dating, birth control, and STDs.

We always encourage parents to pre-read our books or read them along with your girl. That alone will start a lot of conversations that matter!

Check out the Girlology community and our programs at www.girlology.com