Girl Power Books

Deal with It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL

Esther Drill, Heather Mcdonald, Rebecca Odes

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Pocket Amazon Marketplace: 120 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 86 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The birds and bees have never been so hip, thanks to Esther Drill, Heather McDonald, and Rebecca Odes, creators of gURL.com and authors of Deal with It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain and Life as a gURL. As their Web site blossomed in popularity, the gURLs noticed that today's teens have the same questions about sex, love, and growing up that they had as teens. "Hearing what they had to say convinced us that there was a need for a new kind of book about being a girl, one that's smart, funny, approachable, and tuned in to the things girls really want to know." With chapters such as "Boobs," "What's Up Down There," "To Do It or Not to Do It," and "Those Sucky Emotions," the gURLs have got everything covered--with the frankness, humor, and style frustratingly absent from the majority of similarly themed books. All topics are fair game: zit remedies; a dazzling array of hair removal techniques; masturbation methods; sexual positions and orientations; what to do if you are raped; how to deal with anger, depression, and anxiety; the physical effects of different drugs; how to get along with friends and family; and more. In addition to a cooler-than-cool, color-drenched layout and loads of detailed info, Deal with It includes a ton of questions, comments, and personal advice from teenage girls who frequent gURL.com. Reading page after page of these earnest, confused, and curious young voices drives home the need for a book like Deal with It and makes clear that the women of gURL.com have met that challenge with resounding success. (Ages 12 and older) --Brangien Davis

Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun: Young Women and Mentors on the Transition to Womanhood

Linda Wolf, Wind K. Hughes

List Price: $19.95 By: New Society Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Nowadays teenage girls--at least those depicted in books--seem to wade through rivers of pain to reach womanhood. Time and again we hear of girls tempering their voices and leaving behind skills and interests like cast-off baggage. And small wonder, when faced with serious issues such as sexual abuse, teen motherhood, drugs, lack of a spiritual toehold, and the hoary chestnut that guys don't like smart, outspoken, athletic girls. To counter such sapping influences, K. Wind Hughes, a onetime teen mother, and Linda Wolf started a weekly focus group for girls designed to hurdle ubiquitous mumbles of "I don't know" and draw out personality and desires. Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun mines this rich lode, pairing the girls with an extraordinary array of mentors who have struggled with some of the same challenges. Poet Maya Angelou, peace activist and Goddess worshiper Starhawk, songwriters the Indigo Girls, and psychologist Carol Gilligan are among those who point the way.

Girl Power

Hillary Carlip

List Price: $13.99 By: Grand Central Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"I wonder if everyone feels the way I do. I wonder if every girl at the age of 17 feels dumb and alone." Sam, a zine writer and Riot Grrrl from San Diego, voices a lament echoed by many of the young women who speak their minds and souls in Girl Power. Hillary Carlip (who co-authored the funky and fabulous Zine Scene with Francesca Lia Block) wanted to provide a forum for young women of all types, temperaments, and truths to express their deepest sentiments. Carlip felt that writing was the perfect platform, believing that "Through writing, not only are demons freed and mockeries banished, but through self-expression ... they come into their power." The result is a beautiful, intoxicating outcry--of opinions, feelings, rants, raves, poetry, prose, shouts, and cheers--given structure and flow by Carlip's insight and explanations. As diverse and individual as these teens are (homegirls, teen moms, queer girls, cowgirls, farm chicks, sistas, surfers, sk8rs, jocks, sorority girls, and pageant queens, to name a few), they share the common thread of needing to be heard on the issues that matter most in their lives. Bound loosely together like unique and lovely trinkets on a charm bracelet, the voices of these young women will inspire and encourage other girls to speak up, speak out, and speak from the heart. This fascinating, important book should not be missed. (Ages 12 and older) --Brangien Davis

Herstory: Women Who Changed the World

List Price: $21.95 By: Viking Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 33 new & used starting at $0.45

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Did you know that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had an older sister who was another musical genius? Musicologists even speculate that some compositions attributed to Mozart were actually the work of his sister. Nannerl Mozart is just one example of how women and their accomplishments have been ignored or erased entirely from world history. This important book seeks to amend that gaping absence in history books and popular culture by acknowledging the countless women whose contributions have made a difference to modern society. Arranged chronologically, Herstory offers compelling biographies of 120 women from "The Dawn" (prehistory to 1750) to "Revolution to Revolution" (1750-1850) to "The Global Community" (1890 to the present). The famous, not-so-famous, and infamous are here, including Cleopatra, Sacajawea, Qui Jin, and Golda Meir. Showcasing women's achievements in the arts, politics, science, and medicine--and with an inspiring forward by Gloria Steinem--this book serves up a healthy portion of education, enlightenment, and enjoyment, and should be an essential reference for young women and young men alike. (Ages 11 and older) --Brangien Davis

Real Gorgeous: The Truth about Body and Beauty

Kaz Cooke

Amazon Price: $17.95 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 62 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Guide to self-soothing 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 15 people found this review helpful.

"Road to Hell is paved with good intentions" - that's an exact characteristic of this book. Busting the unrealistic self-image sold to (or stuffed into) us by media and corporations is a great intention. But the book runs to the opposite extreme. Its main message repeated over and over is "Whatever you are - that's normal. Don't do anything, trust you body in its candy cravings and food selection and be happy, even if you ARE looking like a space-porker." Excuse me, but our modern environment, food quality and living habits are far, far away from being normal. And to restore the balance, to get close to a slight resemblance of normal the huge work needs to be done, including strict restraining yourself from over-eating over-processed over-refined food and getting a lot and lot of exercise. Suggested 15-20 minutes three times a week is laughable, you might as well call pushing button on your TV remote an exercising...

Editorial Review:

Kaz Cooke knew women needed a book that cut through the confusing and cruel messages about body image, beauty, eating disorders, diets, and cosmetic surgery. "Mostly, we needed a book that wasn't trying to sell us anything except self-confidence and the truth," says Cooke. "I couldn't find one so I had to write one." Written in the spirit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of body acceptance, Cooke playfully challenges some of the most oppressive misogynists of the 20th century: the beauty, fashion, and diet industries. Simultaneously funny and reassuring, Cooke boldly asserts her opinions and research on push-up bras (they dig and hurt), cellulite (it's a cosmetic company-induced condition, not a medical condition), and fashion models ("some of the most insecure, tortured souls around"). The cartoon illustrations offer comic and compassionate accents to this poignant discussion.

Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation

List Price: $14.95 By: Seal Pr Amazon Marketplace: 123 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Contemporary feminist perspectives on women's issues 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Now in an expanded second edition, Listen Up: Voices From The Next Feminist Generation showcases an outstanding series of essays by leading "third-wave" feminists on an impressive range of topics such as blending careers with feminists politics; the inability of a singular feminism to speak for all women, the intersection of traditional culture and third-wave sensibilities; feminist activism; sexuality; identity, gender formation, and more. Ably edited by feminist and women's issues expert Barbara Bindlen (Managing Editor, Family Fun magazine), Listen Up is a core addition to any academic and community library Women's Studies collection, and very strongly recommended reading for women seeking to learn contemporary feminist perspectives on important and principle women's issues of the day.

Editorial Review:

Vibrant, combative and broad-ranging, the new voices in Listen Up are the best proof yet that the next wave of rising feminists is magnificently equal to its task of creating a movement that should be, in terms of its ideas, always renewed. -- Naomi Wolf, author of Fire With Fire

Girl Goddess #9: Nine Stories (Girl Goddess No. 9)

Francesca Lia Block

List Price: $14.95 By: Joanna Cotler Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 72 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Every Girl's Diary 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I look back now, and I realize that Girl Goddess #9 was a big part of my formative years. It was the first FLB book, and it still one of my favorites.

When I read the title story, I remember thinking, "Well,I like Sarah McLachlan, maybe I should give Tori Amos a try." (If you don't know how that story ended, well, know that I think nothing of driving ten hours to go to a Tori concert.) And, a year or so later, I re-read the story and thought, "Hey, I like Sarah and Tori, maybe I should try the Cocteau Twins." Thus began another addiction which annually saps me about fifty bucks.

I was going through major issues with a very dear friend as I read "Pixie and Pony," and for years now, those words have stayed with me: "Best friends? We are sisters." After my mother's injury, I struggled to reconcile the reality of her new self with the way she had once been. The story "La" was of enormous help.

GG#9 is every girl's diary. It is all of our fears and hopes and drems. It is everything we've questioned about life, our futures, our parents, our sexuality, and love. Each girl is perfectly unique, very mysterious, and yet completely familiar. Each of these girls is like a little facet of each other, and of ourselves.

Editorial Review:

Movie stars, rock stars, pond nymphs, intergalactic superheroes . . . who are the real goddesses in Francesca Lia Block's world? Real young women--the kind who ache, bleed, dance, and talk to blue ghosts in closets. Famous for her lyric Weetzie Bat books, Block blossoms in this collection of short stories about love: straight, gay, familial, and otherworldly. Very few young adult authors talk as frankly as Block about sex and some of the other yearnings we feel in this world, yet she guides her readers toward the self-respect and courage necessary to make smart choices about those yearnings.

Girl Talk: Staying Strong, Feeling Good, Sticking Together

Judith Harlan

List Price: $8.95 By: Walker Books for Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 90 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A few years ago—maybe even a few months ago—you did whatever you enjoyed without even thinking about the fact that you were a GIRL. But now you might be getting the message that there are things girls can and cannot do. Don’t allow yourself to get pushed to the sidelines. Life is not a spectator sport!
Girls around the country have shared their ideas with Judith Harlan about how to deal with people who make you feel like you can’t or shouldn’t follow your dream (or run for class president or take physics or play roller hockey). Covering the topics of friends, boys, fun, sports, fashion, school, and more, Girl Talk will inspire you to make your world a better, more fun, and more fair place. Here—finally—you get smart comebacks to annoying comments: "You think like a girl!" ("Thank you. Study hard and you can do it, too.") And in between all the girl talk, dozens of Debbie Palen’s hilarious illustrations will have you in hysterics.

33 Things Every Girl Should Know: Stories, Songs, poems, and Smart Talk by 33 Extraordinary Women

Tonya Bolden

List Price: $17.99 By: Knopf Books for Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $2.56

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Editor Tonya Bolden makes no bones about it: "It's no secret. This book is about girl build-up." Accordingly, the pieces collected in 33 Things Every Girl Should Know have the spicy flavor of rabble-rousing. But instead of a radical call to arms, readers will find more of a call to self-esteem, self-respect, and a summons to keep their eyes on a bright future. Subtitled "Stories, Songs, Poems, and Smart Talk by 33 Extraordinary Women," this collection offers young women first-hand advice from such diverse luminaries as Lynda Barry, Sandra Cisneros, Johnetta Cole, Alice Hoffman, Lauren Hutton, M. E. Kerr, Rebecca Lobo, Natalie Merchant, Faith Ringgold, Tabitha Soren, Vera Wang, Wendy Wasserstein, and Sigourney Weaver. These grown-up girls hearken from many realms and backgrounds, with widely varying experiences and skills, but all join their voices here to offer insight, advice, and a surprising expanse of common ground.

From a fiercely funny comic strip about mean girls, to a moving essay about living with spina bifida, to a forensic discussion of why it's not a crime for girls to love science, these stories reflect and encourage female wit, wisdom, and perseverance. Most of all, the essential 33 things display the infinite range of options for girls, and will inspire young women to pursue the pathways paving their dreams.

Cool Women

Dawn Chipman, Pamela Nelson, Mari Florence, Naomi Wax

List Price: $19.95 By: Girl Press Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $0.47

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Cool account of womyn throughout history 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Very interesting with cool facts about womyn (he he). Not a whole lot of info about individual people, but still fun, facinating, and nicly designed. I highly recommend it to anyone (mostly but not limited to, girls) at basically any age. Makes a great present to a 8-14 year old girl (I should know:) ).

Editorial Review:

The roster of female role models in Cool Women is extremely eclectic, spanning history and national boundaries to include Cleopatra and Amelia Earhart. Mexican freedom fighters stand side by side with Soviet WWII fighter pilots, Mother Jones, and Rosie the Riveter. Editor Pam Nelson places emphasis on women who overcame their own fears to go beyond society's expectations and succeed on their own terms. Cool Women also introduces many young readers to women about whom they might otherwise not learn until adulthood, such as Dorothy Parker, Janet Flanner, and Jane Goodall. The eye-catching design and friendly writing style (Josephine Baker's "to-do list" includes "Become toast of Paris") will keep girls' attention and hopefully inspire them to check out some of the references provided.