Debut author Karina Evans gives modern-day readers their own version of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret with a fun romp about friendship, puberty, and growing up.

Twelve-year-old Tahlia Wilkins is ready to kick off the perfect summer at the popular kid’s pool party. But when the Red Goddess of Panties, aka her first period, arrives 24 hours before the pool party, it messes up all her plans. To make matters worse, her mom is out of town, and there’s no way she’s going to ask her dad for help! Tahlia always feared that growing up would be tough, but this is just not fair.

In order to save herself from total embarrassment, it will take all of Tahlia and her best friend Lily’s scheming to keep her reputation—and her favorite jeans—from being ruined. Sneak off to the grocery store only to have the clerk price check your “goods” over the loudspeaker? Check. Trick your mature teenage neighbor into letting you use her bathroom to ‘rehome’ some tampons? Check. Take a dip into a fountain to ‘borrow’ some quarters for a bathroom period product dispenser? Check, check, check!

With the hilarious and heartwarming tone of Dork Diaries and the critically-acclaimed movie Eighth Grade, Grow Up, Tahlia Wilkins! is a coming-of-age middle-grade novel about growing up, in all of its awkward glory.

Karina Evans is a children’s author from Santa Barbara, California. She is represented by Jessica Mileo at InkWell Management.

Karina studied English at the University of Delaware before starting a career in the entertainment industry. She works in marketing for Sony Pictures and has previously worked for Lucasfilm and Paramount Pictures.

Some of Karina’s favorite things are: See’s Candies, The Amazing Race, singing show tunes in the car, and volleyball. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two mischievous cats, Sir Pounce and Taika.