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Girls Will Be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters
Now available in paperback is a bold, fresh, and timely work that "offers parents humor, understanding, parenting philosophy, and well-founded pearls of wisdom." --Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D., coauthor of Raising CainMary Pipher told us about the problems girls face in Reviving Ophelia; now in Girls Will Be Girls, JoAnn Deak gives us the solutions. Deak looks past the "scar...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
August 20th 2003
by Hyperion
(first published 2002)
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Imagine sitting down with the earnest and apple-cheeked school counselor of your middle school. She reassures you that you're completely normal, makes a few embarrassing comments, pats your knee, and you leave rolling your eyes a little, but feeling like you can manage another day.
That's the tone of this book-- goofy platitudes and dumb alliterative mnemonics disguising quite a bit of good information on girls' social and emotional development.
It talks a little about young girls and their brain...more
That's the tone of this book-- goofy platitudes and dumb alliterative mnemonics disguising quite a bit of good information on girls' social and emotional development.
It talks a little about young girls and their brain...more
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Oct 13, 2010
Amy Velasco
added it
i attended a seminar on the neurobiology of girls given by dr. deak in november 2007 and was enlightened and impressed. there is so much to know about the ways our brains function. she has specialized and written about adolescent neurobiology in particular, which is especially useful to me as i teach teenage girls. hearing and reading her, i also feel like i am learning about myself.
I'm going to go ahead with my review even though I still have about 40 pages left...
I worry a lot about how to help my girls grow up to be strong and confident in today's world. I worry about losing touch with them when they become teens and I worry about how to still be a parent but to give them room to grow and develop their own opinons and strength and lives. I had hoped this book would teach me something about what I can expect and how to be a better parent for them-now and later.
Let me say...more
I worry a lot about how to help my girls grow up to be strong and confident in today's world. I worry about losing touch with them when they become teens and I worry about how to still be a parent but to give them room to grow and develop their own opinons and strength and lives. I had hoped this book would teach me something about what I can expect and how to be a better parent for them-now and later.
Let me say...more
An engaging look at the physiological and psychological inner workings of a girl. Very insightful chapters on layering life experiences, mothers and daughters, fathers and daughters, society's expectations including girls being "pleasers" and the danger of that, and the magic of doing. Especially loved the Pearls of Wisdom summary boxes at the end of each chapter. Took to heart the advice that 2nd grade girls try out friends like flavors of the day (21-flavors Baskin Robbins), and why that is go...more
I heard this author on a podcast say that she is always available for specific advice by email and she sounded pretty smart so I figured I'd read her book. It was good but not great. I liked the way she explains why you shouldn't discuss things when your emotions are running high. The part of your brain responsible for emotions was evolved to enable you to run from a bear and discussing anything during a bear attack is probably not a great idea, even if the bear attack is only an argument about...more
May 09, 2009
Heather
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone with a daughter or granddaughter, or any adult who works closely with girls
To be honest, I never had the chance to finish reading this book. I got about halfway through before I needed to give it back to the woman who'd loaned it to me, and I haven't had the chance to revisit it.
I read through the author's analysis of pre-teens - tweens, she called them - and the information I read up to that point was interesting and enlightening. I was a young girl once, I was there, I lived through it. But my experience was and will be very different from my daughter's. I lived in a...more
I read through the author's analysis of pre-teens - tweens, she called them - and the information I read up to that point was interesting and enlightening. I was a young girl once, I was there, I lived through it. But my experience was and will be very different from my daughter's. I lived in a...more
Borrowed from the library but one I plan to buy and refer to often.
This book is the most insightful, thoughtful, realistic, and in a way, instructive book on raising girls I've read thus far. It needs an update, and a chapter on social media/internet/online bullying, but is otherwise the perfect guide to raising girls.
It covers ages 2 thru 20 and beyond. It deals with academic, social issues, family issues, health issues.
This book is the most insightful, thoughtful, realistic, and in a way, instructive book on raising girls I've read thus far. It needs an update, and a chapter on social media/internet/online bullying, but is otherwise the perfect guide to raising girls.
It covers ages 2 thru 20 and beyond. It deals with academic, social issues, family issues, health issues.
a lot of good material and sources, but a lot of common sense as well. good quick read. i had to read it for my school that I am working at, and it turned out to be worth it. sometimes attributed qualities only to girls that can be very strongly attributed to boys as well, and some biological assumptions pass over sociological possibilities, but in general, quite good.
This book is boring and only has a few useful bits of information in it. I didn't finish it. I don't like her writing style, and I'm sure there are better books like this out there that are actually helpful and readable.
Outstanding book, very well done, easy to read and essential to any parent striving to raise strong girls. I learned so much and found the information incredibly helpful, I may have to splurge and buy the book! Excellent.
Insightful and thought provoking. Would recommend to anyone who wants to push their daughters to be confident yet find a good balance. I will definitely want to revisit this book when my daughter is in her teens.
A lot of good advice, especially for those of us without the perspective of having been a girl growing up. But, as this reviewer put it, the author's creative naming of developmental stages became a bit annoying, but was tolerable and applicable. Overall, it was informative and insightful.
Most of it you know, but there were things mentioned that I hadn't considered. I thought it was helpful and relevant and have recommended it to friends.
Dec 12, 2009
penelopewanders
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
work-related-read
I heard JoAnn speak at a conference and thought she was quite brilliant (and very, very witty). Read part of this when I got it a few years ago and have now put it in the bathroom to be read in short stints.
UPDATE
Not the quickest way to read a book, but I found so much of this thought-provoking and useful. As the mother of a not always very confident young teen and dorm mother to scores of other girls over the years, I was eager to lap up all the suggestions. I loved the idea of the biking proj...more
UPDATE
Not the quickest way to read a book, but I found so much of this thought-provoking and useful. As the mother of a not always very confident young teen and dorm mother to scores of other girls over the years, I was eager to lap up all the suggestions. I loved the idea of the biking proj...more
read this review and others at http://readingforsanity.blogspot.com/...
I actually didn't finish this book. There wasn't really a lot of information that I found to be helpful as a mother. The overriding message that I received was that you need to keep the lines of communication open - very good advice, but didn't really need a whole book to explain that.
Interesting and not as tedious as some reference books can be on child development.
This book had a lot of good information - some of it new and some of it a good articulation of what I remember from my own childhood and adolescence. Her penchant for naming stages/issues/situations and labeling endlessly gets a little tiresome and her lack of supporting documentation/evidence is a concerning, but on the whole it's a good book to get any parent of daughters in a good mind frame to tackle the task. I like her pragmatic approach and validation of the different social/emotional sta...more
Another fantastic parenting book that I still go back to for advice!
Jan 25, 2012
Laura
marked it as to-read
Recommended by our preschool teacher/director
Great book to read for a parent of preteen girls.
i finally finished this book!!! it was one that put me to sleep every night...but yet i gleaned a lot of good info. i would have liked to hear more resolutions...there were a lot of questions and good ones that came up but she didn't get into specifics of handling certain situations instead gave tools for any situation. so it was helpful but required more work on my part (thus the sleep induced coma i experienced with each chapter) :)
This book is fantastic! Every parent, teacher, {insert title} that works with girls should read this book! It does more than explain the stages girls go through, it explains why they are necessary, and an important part of a girl's growth. Truly, this is a timeless book that can bring insight and clarity to any adult. I loved the chapters geared specifically to moms and one to dads.
I just couldn't make it through this one. I haven't had much time to read lately, and I've been renewing this from the library over and over. I gave up. It didn't interest me as much as I thougth it would, and the author's language got on my nerves. Maybe I'll return to it someday, since I hate leaving a book unfinished once I've read part of it. I just finished chapter 2 (I made it really far, didn't I?), so I'll pick up there someday . . . maybe.
While it was a good reminder of how to be a good parent, I thought it applied to both girls and boys. I really didn't feel like I learned anything new, but I did like the reminder. One thing I didn't like was her writing style. She says "I'll address this later in the book a lot" and therefore the book felt very fragmented and didn't flow very well.
great book on navigating today's tricky world raising girls. I would highly recommend as I am in unchartered water each and every day with my 7 year old. This book has helped me understand what's going on and better yet what will go on.....
There are tidbits of good info all through this book, but writing is very choppy and hard to follow sometimes. I think if you read the summary at the end of each chapter you'd probably get everything you needed out of it.
Ploughing my way thru, not feeling enlightened yet and so far it just makes me scared for my future as mom of an almost 9 year old girl. I can't call her a tween, it just doesn't sit well with me to go there yet.......
Sep 02, 2008
Karin
is currently reading it
I have heard the author speak and she will be coming to Dallas again this year. Very interesting information about the way we raise our daughters. Can't rate it yet as I am still in the middle of it.
Excellent book on parenting tweens. Author has great perspective on the issues girls face and offers insight on positive leadership and parenting.
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