How to Build a Girl

Soon to be a motion picture! The New York Times bestselling author, celebrated as “the UK’s answer to Tina Fey, Chelsea Handler, and Lena Dunham all rolled into one” (Marie Claire), makes her fiction debut with a hilarious yet deeply moving coming-of-age novel. At fourteen, Johanna Morrigan feels her parents’ teachings fall short, prompting her to seek inspiration from books, poetry, and pop songs to reinvent herself. It’s 1990, and after a humiliating experience on local TV, she transforms into Dolly Wilde—an audacious, hard-drinking Gothic hero and self-proclaimed Lady Sex Adventurer. Determined to save her struggling Bohemian family, she aspires to be a writer like Jo in Little Women, but without the tragic ending. By sixteen, she’s smoking, drinking, and working for a music paper, penning risqué letters to rock stars and critiquing bands with sharp wit. However, as Johanna navigates her wild new persona, she discovers a critical flaw in her creation of Dolly. Is a collection of records, posters, and books truly enough to define who she is? Imagine The Bell Jar penned by Rizzo from Grease. This story is a funny, poignant exploration of self-discovery and reinvention, told with Caitlin Moran's unique voice.