Girl Power

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

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

Deal With It! offers a whole new approach for dealing with your life as a girl. It's a resource to help you learn about, laugh about, and figure out the stuff you go through on your way through life. It won't tell you what to do, because you'll need to decide that for yourself. But whether you're wondering about your body, your feelings or your changing relationships with the people around you, this book provides accurate information and outlines your options. Hilarious illustrations point out the humor in even the sorriest situations. And with hundreds of excerpts from real-girl conversations on the gURL.com website, you can see for real that whatever you're going through, you're not alone.

This book is for anyone who needs to know what it means to be a girl -- from those on the edge of their teens to those who are way past them but still reeling from the trauma.

Real Gorgeous: The Truth About Body and Beauty

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.

Herstory: Women Who Changed the World

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

Cool Women

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.

Cool Women: The Thinking Girl`s Guide to the Hippest Women in History To celebrate the launch of The Cool Women Series, Girl Press re-releases an updated version of the award-winning bestseller, Cool Women. With a new foreword by The View`s Lisa Ling and updated info on the coolest women in history, the ultimate book of role models for girls is back, and just as smart & sassy as the women who are its subject. Breezy writing and high design make it all fun and accessible--a girl reading Cool Women will come away thinking that Madame Curie was brilliant, sure, but also that Madame Curie rocked.

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

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.

Welcome to Girl Goddess #9, a collection of nine stories about girls by the author of Weetzie Bat.  Here in these pages are girl goddesses of every age and shape and size, wearing combat boots and spiky hair or dressed all in white.  One girl has two moms, another has no mother at all but a strange blue-skinned elf that lives in her closet.  One is a rock-star groupie, another loves dancing and reading peotry and having picnics in the backyard when the moon is full.  Best best girlfriends, lovers gay and straight.  Baby goddesses, singing goddesses, dancing goddesses, writing goddesses-all discovering that the world is not a simple place and that there is more than one way to live.

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

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.

Making the transition into womanhood is a time of great potential, challenge, discovery, courage and confusion. Girls often face the journey alone, risking their sense of self and purpose along the way.

Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun provides validation, support and vision through powerful and compelling autobiographical stories gathered from more than forty teenage girls, over half of whom participated weekly in a two-year focus group. By sharing themselves intimately on topics ranging from bulimia, anorexia, body image, peer pressure and terminal illness, to empowered relationships with males, lesbianism, pregnancy, motherhood, drug exploration, sexuality, abuse and suicide, these young women explore the process of discovery, healing and developing self-esteem. Candid narratives are accompanied by interviews with accomplished women mentors.

In Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun, women and girls will recognize themselves and each other and the ageless and timeless struggle of all young women to evolve to be who and what they are.

Few books on the development of adolescent girls are compelling enough to actually be read by the girls themselves. Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun is the exception, with young women the primary audience. Professors and students of Women's Studies courses, educators, professional counselors and parents will also find here a wellspring of insight and understanding. Photographs by world-renowned photographer, Linda Wolf, elevate this book to one of absorbing beauty.

Women mentors in the book are:
Bella Abzug
Michele Akers
Maya Angelou
Byllye Avery
Angela Davis
Riane Eisler
Carol Gilligan
the Indigo Girls
Jean Kilbourne
Wilma Mankiller
Anisa Romero
Starhawk
Lindsay Wagner
Barbara Walker
Marion Woodman

K. Wind Hughes and Linda Wolf are co-founders and co-directors of the Daughters/Sisters Project based on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. The Project holds workshops, classes and ritual gatherings for girls and women and facilitates adolescent focus groups for both genders as well as intergenerational dialogs between teens and elders.

Girl Power

"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

"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

Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation

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

Letters to a Young Feminist

An excellent accompaniment to any compendium of women's issues, academic or personal, Phyllis Chesler's Letters to a Young Feminist may at first appear to contain things we've previously heard. But have we remembered? Chesler reminds us that, while feminism (she includes women and men) may appear to have fulfilled a purpose and run its course, the issues of unequal social power and unequal treatment are still real (against both women and men). Her discussion of the "traditionally" masculine art of teamwork, in comparison to feminism's ultimate democratic goal of multiple voices making universal decisions, illustrates that problem solving and distribution of power are qualities of both approaches. Like Virginia Woolf in A Room of One's Own, Chesler admonishes individuals to seek economic freedom. And like Rainer Marie Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, Chesler's book offers an introduction to feminism as well as recollections of social history.

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

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.

Natalie Merchant. Sigourney Weaver. Tabitha Soren. Wendy Wasserstein. Rebecca Lobo. Lauren Hutton. Anita Roddick. Lynda Barry. These are among the thirty-three extraordinary women who lend their diverse voices to this outstanding collection of stories, songs, poems, comics, and essays that will give every adolescent girl reason to feel hopeful about making the transition from girlhood to womanhood. Dealing with subjects like popularity, success, communication with boys, speaking one's mind, and body image, here is a book that offers help and inspiration to girls as they struggle to find a portrayal of womanhood they can call their own. 33 Things Every Girl Should Know is an empowering and inspirational gift book that every girl will want to own, to share with friends, and to use as a springboard to self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-esteem.  


From the Trade Paperback edition.