We are so happy to support Family Action Network (FAN) as they welcome Melissa Febos, author of the new book, Girlhood. Ms. Febos will be interviewed by Heather Havrilesky. This virtual event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Click HERE to reserve your spot!

This event will be recorded and available later on the FAN website and YouTube channel.

NOTE: This webinar may include frank discussion of adult topics and may not be suitable for some youth. Parental discretion is advised.

AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy of Girlhood from The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Ms. Febos and Ms. Havrilesky that will start immediately after the webinar. The link to register for the AFTER-HOURS program will appear in red font at the top of an email from The Book Stall. Look for it right after your receipt arrives!

About the Book: In her new memoir Girlhood, author Melissa Febos examines the narratives women are told about what it means to be a girl and the realities of growing up female in a world that prioritizes the feelings, perceptions, and power of men at girls' expense.

Ms. Febos was eleven when her body began to change, and almost overnight, the way people spoke to, looked at, and treated her changed with it. As she grew, she defined herself based on these perceptions and by the romantic relationships she threw herself into headlong. But in her thirties, Ms. Febos began to question the stories she'd been told about herself and the habits and defenses she'd developed over years of trying to meet others' expectations. The values she and so many other women had learned in girlhood did not prioritize their personal safety, happiness, or freedom, and she set out to reframe those values and beliefs.

Ms. Febos will be in conversation with Heather Havrilesky (FAN ’18), critic, memoirist, and New York magazine’s “Ask Polly” advice columnist.

About the Author: Melissa Febos is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Whip Smart (2010), and the essay collection, Abandon Me (2017), which was a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist, a Publishing Triangle Award finalist, an Indie Next Pick, and was named a Best Book of 2017 by Esquire, Book Riot, The Cut, Electric Literature, Bustle, Medium, Refinery29, The Brooklyn Rail, Salon, The Rumpus, and others. Her work has appeared in publications including The Paris Review, The Sun, The Kenyon Review, Tin House, Granta, The Believer, The New York Times, McSweeney’s, The New York Times Book Review, Lenny Letter, The Guardian, Elle, and Vogue. Her second essay collection, Girlhood, was published by Bloomsbury in March 2021.

About the Interviewer: Heather Havrilesky writes the popular advice column "Ask Polly" for New York magazine’s The Cut. She is the author of What If This Were Enough (2018), How to Be a Person in the World (2016), and Disaster Preparedness (2010). She has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and NPR's All Things Considered, among others. She maintains the "Ask Molly" newsletter on Substack, written by Polly’s evil twin.