Secrets Girls Keep: What Girls Hide (and Why) and How to Break the Stress of Silence
by: Carrie Silver-Stock, MSW, LCSW
Published by: Health Communications, Inc.
Buy From Amazon.com
Reviewed by Connie Anderson
In the author’s “Why I wrote this” section, she explained that she interviewed many girls and used their stories. The theme is universal with every girl she talked to: girls just want to be themselves. They don’t want to be a label: the pretty girl, the jock, the book nerd, the preppie, the Goth, etc.
The author asks: Are you going to let society brand you with its labels–or accept that you are an individual? She wants girls to rid themselves of labels and create a safe place where they can support each other.
Secrets! Everyone has them–but tweens and teens feel that if they share, there will be shame, and they won’t be liked. The secrets the author worries about the most are about body image, low self-esteem, sexuality, addiction, suicide–and societal pressures that tell girls what they are supposed to be and look like. Being perfect is both tiring and overwhelming.
The author, now a therapist and coach who focuses on working with girls, had her own teen secrets of low self-esteem, an eating disorder, and perfectionism. So, she knows what she writes about. She didn’t feel she could talk to anyone, thus depression and thoughts of suicide followed.
The book is divided into these chapters:
Beauty
Boys
Friends
Family
School (now and beyond)
Cyber savvy
The Tough Stuff chapters discusses depression, suicide, drug and alcohol, eating disorders, dating violence, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, STDs, self-harming behaviors, and grief and loss.
Each chapter discusses the same “7 Tips Every Girl Needs to Deal with Any Problem.”
1. You gotta use your gut
2. Discover your strengths and use them
3. Choose the right friends and respect them
4. Be courageous and confident
5. Be fit and stay fit
6. Dream big
7. Get outside of yourself
Moms, buy two copies of this book, one for your daughter and one for yourself. You will be more aware of what girls today are dealing with, and this might open up lines of communication easier.
Armchair Interviews says: You will appreciate having this insight–and the many resources she provides. Check out her web site.
Author’s Web site: http://www.GirlsWithDreams.com
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