Acquiring a driver’s license is a rite of passage, but there’s more to driving than learning the rules of the road. This nifty hot-pink-and-black guide to buying, understanding, maintaining, and styling a first car will be a real help to new drivers, and it is the size and shape of an owner’s manual, so it will store nicely in the glove compartment. The tips range from the very basic (how to release the hood latch and prop it open) to diagrams and descriptions of brake rotors and calipers, as well as directions for checking and replacing air filters. Charts of symptoms indicating possible problems and what to do about them are useful. For issues that are beyond a teen driver’s capabilities, there is advice for dealing with an auto mechanic. Fun comes in the last chapter, with tips for keeping the car looking nice and adding a girl’s best friend: accessories! Interspersed throughout the easy-to-read layout are fun facts (did you know that a high-school girl invented the device that turns off your signal after you turn?) and lists of driving songs and movies, all centered around girl power. A great gift for a new female driver or a library purchase to supplement the high-school auto-shop curriculum. Grades 8-11. --Cindy Dobrez
About the Author
Erika Stalder is a San Francisco-based writer who has contributed to
Wired, Missbehave,
Planet, and
The Journal of Life Sciences, and worked with the International Museum of Women to produce the
Imagining Ourselves anthology. She also currently writes the Dear Erika advice column for ABC Family’s
The Secret Life of The American Teen website. Her other books include
Zest Books’ Fashion 101, The Date Book, and
97 Things To Do Before Your Finish High School.
