The Big P: A Girl's Journey Through Puberty is the first series of books based on the Tanner scale helping girls traverse the sometimes rocky pathway from girlhood to womanhood. It begins with the onset of puberty, which can start anywhere between the ages of eight and eleven. Those initial body changes lead to the first bra and the first menstrual period as well as the difficult emotional changes that accompany the hormonal shifts of passing from childhood to womanhood. The drive for independence from the family, spending more time with friends than at home and all the issues of social interactions including peer pressure, are also part of it. Raising a daughter of my own and seeing hundreds of young girls as patients has only reinforced for me how important education and open communication is during puberty.