A Smart Girl's Guide: Liking Herself: Even on the Bad Days (American Girl)

So, I ordered this book in spite of the negative reviews and comments about "stereotyping" and forcing girls into a certain category....Here's the thing: even though its 2019 and female empowerment is taking on a whole new meaning, kids still feel a certain way. Middle school is rough. Period. That hasn't changed in the 20 years since I had to endure it, and personally I found the book helpful. I took the quizzes and answered how I thought my 11 year old daughter would, and I didn't find the results offensive or categorizing.I totally get it if people didn't care for the book, but honestly I read it cover to cover and found the subject matter is along the exact lines of what my child is currently experiencing at school. It covers topics such as shyness vs. low self esteem, which I found helpful. Sometimes, kids just need to read about something on their level, rather than from an adult's view point and just process from their level of understanding. I found the best part to be a small blurb on one of the pages titled "help is on the way." It talks about if you (young girl) can't shake negative self - talk and feelings, talk to someone about it. Parents, teachers, psychologists, social workers, school nurse, etc. I found this especially interesting because it says, plain as day, ITS OK TO FEEL THIS WAY AND MENTAL HEALTH IS HEALTHY! Remove the stigma of therapists, and feeling like you HAVE to be happy or else you're "crazy."I recommend this book. My daughter is 11, she is seeing a therapist, and I did not find the print detrimental in any way. It lays out feelings and emotions from a kid's perspective, and offers elementary - middle school aged advice.

First I would like to offer my opinion about these books, they’re the greatest conversation starters that I can have with my 10 and 12 year old daughters, and yes I’m a father of 2 girls and at this stage I love listening to them and hearing their school life and drama as they mature into young ladies. I’m so pleased that there are comments and situations in these books by actual girls who have been through most of what they will be experiencing for the first time and hearing it from real girls give the books more credence for me. And I like reading to them about what others have experienced which let’s them know they’re not alone. These books are great, and maybe the author could write more about “sex, sexuality, sexual behaviors, sexual situation, and how to cope with the sexual peer pressure, sexual abuse and many more sexual related topics that girls should have some idea of and brought to light while in school that’s where they get most of the wrong information most of the time anyway. These books give me insight and hope for my daughters and other young ladies future to achieve some standard “morals” and “dignity” about all that’s still left to teach

This happened to be the second book I bought of this series (or whatever.) My 10 yr old daughter literally did not hardly put it down. She finished it in less then 24 hrs...& NO JOKE=>On a Saturday afternoon into evening-Shockingly! She was actually so pleased with the books, that she came into my room insisting "Mom, you gotta get some more of those book's!"Folk's, these young ladies are growing up in a VERY different time & world when compared to "the times" as well as "the world" we grew up in. Everything's so much faster, so much more stressful & more expectations. Smh. Tooo many damn "influencers" & self proclaimed so called "experts" these days...Anyways, it is SUCH a relief knowing that there are books out here now to help us parents with ALL these countless important situations & topics. I give a solid 5 ☆'s for not only topics but in the tactful & still straight forward manner that didn't frighten or make my daughter feel all uncomfortable at anytime.

This book is a must for every young girl. At some point in time all girls struggle with one thing or another.

My granddaughter was feeling low & I wanted to build up her confidence & self esteem. We read a couple of chapters each weekends stay . She’s 7 & can read some herself but I like to talk about what we’ve read . I would highly recommend this book & all American Girl books

Both my 8yr old and 10 yr old have found these books really helpful. There is only so much advice a mom can give before kids start to roll their eyes or glaze over. This book says it better/differently than I do, and so it makes a great "reference" guide for girls who are starting to deal with friendship issues at school. We have several in the series and have been happy with all of them.

Love this book and others in the series. My 9 year old daughter seems to inhale the information and feels empowered by it. Usual girly nonsense at school so this helps her make sense of it all and stay strong. Will be buying the others asap. Thank you!

Bought for my eleven year old who is becoming self- conscious.Thought it was great, with lots of easy to remember tips and written in an empathetic way that a girl around this age can understand and relate to.

Really nicely written book to help build confidence in girls. Very good.

Excellent for building up your child’s self-esteem.