When Frankie's first sexual experience goes viral, the aftermath is widespread and destructive. Who is responsible for the digitally-created images that spread throughout the school and the internet? Frankie's reputation is destroyed, the cyberbullying isolates her from friends, and the vicious comments on the images consume her every waking thought. Ashamed and desperate, Frankie finally turns to her parents and estranged best friend to find a solution. In the process, Frankie learned a lot about who she is and who she wants to be. This relatable, timely, and poignant novel in verse is a powerful voice for young women.

2021 USBBY Outstanding International Books list.

Author lives in Wales with her family.

UK. Originally published in UK as Blood Moon by Walker Books in 2020. Published in the United States by Walker Books US / Candlewick Press in 2020.

This powerful, timely novel in verse exposes provocative truths about periods, sex, shame, and going viral for all the wrong reasons.


After school one day, Frankie, a lover of physics and astronomy, has her first sexual experience with quiet and gorgeous Benjamin—and gets her period. It’s only blood, they agree. But soon a gruesome meme goes viral, turning an intimate, affectionate afternoon into something sordid, mortifying, and damaging. In the time it takes to swipe a screen, Frankie’s universe implodes. Who can she trust? Not Harriet, her suddenly cruel best friend, and certainly not Benjamin, the only one who knows about the incident. As the online shaming takes on a horrifying life of its own, Frankie begins to wonder: is her real life over?

Author Lucy Cuthew vividly portrays what it is to be a teen today with this fearless and ultimately uplifting novel in verse. Brimming with emotion, the story captures the intensity of friendships, first love, and female desire, while unflinchingly exploring the culture of online and menstrual shaming. Sure to be a conversation starter, Blood Moon is the unforgettable portrait of one girl’s fight to reclaim her reputation and to stand up against a culture that says periods are dirty.