Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Not-So-Random Shelf: Young Adult Nonfiction




Studies have shown that girls’ confidences plummet sharply during adolescence. In recent years, organizations, programs, and books have sprung up in order to combat this phenomenon. In 1999, a book titled See Jane Win: The Rimm Report on How 1,000 Girls Became Successful Women was published, to much interest and acclaim. Leapfrogging on that publication was the 2003 See Jane Win for Girls, specifically written for teenage girls.

Conversational writing, quizzes, and quotes from successful women on school, relationships, bullying and cliques, and self esteem (and the pitfalls of too much self esteem, which isn’t something that we see a lot in self-help books for children and teens) make this an appealing and casual read for teen girls. Sylvia Rimm suggests that parents/coaches/leaders and their girls read it and discuss it together, which is probably the best use of this book.

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