Sunday, February 1, 2009

You Go, Girl

I've been on something of a kick reading about adolescent girls, Hold Me Close, Let Me Go (by Adair Lara) being the latest. Of the pile I've read so far, it's been the least illuminating but most personal. I found it disappointing, in that I had hoped for a whole book along the lines of Lara's wonderfully clarifying essay referred to in most reprints I've seen as The Cat Years.)

Reviving Ophelia surprised me the most - I didn't want to read it, rather, I thought I should. I had dismissed Mary Pipher's book as "just" the seminal diatribe on adolescent girls and eating disorders, when it is quite a bit more than that, and much more palatable than Queen Bees and Wannabees. (Which scared and scarred me, I'm telling you.)

As the admittedly anxious and confused mother of a teenager, I'm still open to suggestions for reading materials that might make the next few years of my life a little saner and a little safer for us all...

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