SOCIAL SCIENCES

The Sh!t No One Tells You

by Dawn Dais
Avalon. 2013. 224p. ISBN 9781580054843. pap. $16; ebk. ISBN 9781580054850. CHILD REARING
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There's no doubt that first-time motherhood is one of the most soul-altering awakenings women experience, and it's almost never a cakewalk. Freelance writer Dais aims to tell those would-be blindsided moms what really happens during and after childbirth, and she's not pulling any punches ("My hope is to give you what I didn't have: the ability to say, 'I am not the only parent in the history of the planet to have their asses handed to them by something they could fit in a purse.'"). The author combines her own advice with that of several BFF moms in chapters that range from "You Just Pooped Out a Baby (Your Body Post-Baby)" to "It May Not be Love at First Sight."
VERDICT Dais gives mothers decent guidance with a wisecracking, tongue-in-cheek style ("raid the hospital for everything that isn't nailed down"), interspersed with some memorable and worthy insights ("Just because breast-feeding is natural doesn't mean it will come naturally."). Great for public library collections.
Reviewed by Staff , Nov 14, 2013
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