Description
Product Description
Girls are cutting themselves with razors. Girls are convinced they’re fat, and starve themselves to prove it. Other girls are so anxious about grades they can’t sleep at nightat eleven years of age. What’s going on? In
Girls on the Edge, Dr. Leonard Sax provides the answers. He shares stories of girls who look confident and strong on the outside, but are fragile within. He shows why a growing proportion of teen and tween girls are confused about their sexual identity, or are obsessed with grades or Facebook. Dr. Sax provides parents with tools to help girls become confident women, along with practical tips on helping your daughter choose a sport, nurturing her spirit through female centered activities, and more. Compelling and inspiring,
Girls on the Edge points the way to a new future for today’s young women.
From Booklist
In Boys Adrift (2007), Sax, a family physician and psychologist with more than 20 years of experience, explored the disturbing trend of young men who are disengaged from their lives. In this companion volume, he turns to the other half of the population and identifies four factors that are threatening the mental and physical health of young women today: a culture that sexualizes young girls; the “cyberbubble” of social networking and electronic communication; obsessive behaviors, including eating disorders; and environmental toxins that disrupt the endocrine system and lead to early-onset puberty. In clear, accessible language, Sax deftly blends anecdotes, clinical research, and even lines of poetry in persuasive, often fascinating chapters that speak straight to parents; in the book’s second half, he offers practical ideas for nurturing girls’ minds, bodies, and spirits, from advocating for girls’ athletics programs to making room for prayer in secular households. Warning that “a 1980s solution” won’t help solve twenty-first-century problems, Sax offers a holistic, sobering call to help the current generation of young women develop the support and sense of self that will allow them to grow into resilient adults. And, finally, he counsels parents to be persistent: “Don’t back away even when she tells you to get lost.” Pair this eye-opening title with similar resources listed in the adjacent Read-alikes column, “Girl Talk, Part 2.” --Gillian Engberg
Review
Florence Hilliard, Director of the Gender Studies Project, University of Wisconsin–Madison
“Dr. Sax once again combines years of experience with compelling research and common sense to intelligently challenge the status quo of what it means to raise a healthy daughter.
Girls on the Edge offers skills parents can incorporate to feel more competent with our girls and young women.”
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, author of God’s Paintbrush and In God’s Name
“Turn off your cell phones and computers, and read this book! You will connect with your daughter in new ways, and she will thank you.”
Margaret M. Ferrara, PhD, editor of Advances in Gender and Education (A.G.E.) and associate professor, University of Nevada Reno
“Written through real stories and supported by strong evidence in the fields of education, psychology, and the sciences - a MUST read.”
Courtney E. Martin, author of
Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters
“Leonard Sax brings together a rare combination of psychoanalytic training with a deep empathy for girls and their stories in this important book. His argument that girls are struggling to find their centers will resonate and his recommendations for how to locate them will inspire.”
Booklist
“In clear, accessible language, Sax deftly blends anecdotes, clinical research, and even lines of poetry in persuasive, often fascinating chapters that speak straight to parents…Warning that ‘a 1980s solution’ won’t help solve twenty-first-century problems, Sax offers a holistic, sobering call to help the current generation of young women develop the support and sense of self that will allow them to grow into resilient