Girlforce by Nikki Goldstein--Book Review

Young women who read CosmoGIRL, Teen Vogue, Seventeen and Girls' Life will feel right at home in between the pages of Nikki Goldstein's new book Girlforce: A Girl's Guide to the Body and Soul.

Basing her book upon India's ancient medical system, Ayurveda, which according to Goldstein offers a complete system of living, the author has modernized this ancient system and made it applicable to young women and the situations they are dealing with on a daily basis. Proving her knowledge of the age-group, Goldstein includes quizzes similar to those found in popular teen magazines, which allow the reader to figure out which Body Type she is, how much stress she is under, and where she is on the self-esteem meter.

The colorful front and back cover, color photographs, and appealing inside design will certainly attract teens to this book and encourage them to read more.

The basic advice found in Girlforce is all stuff we've heard before: be happy with who you are, eat right, exercise, and take care of yourself. It encourages yoga and meditation as ways to relax, which are parts of Ayruveda. What Goldstein, does however, is create Body Type specific applications for diet, exercise, stress management, fashion, and beauty techniques.

I have to admit, while I found most of the advice in this book to be helpful for young women, I did have a few challenges as I read it.

The first is that while it does tell the reader over and again how much she should appreciate who she is, most of the photos show girls who look more like professional models than average teens. In addition, Earth girls are said to be "curvaceous" and "...tend to put on weight around the hips and butt." None of the girls photographed for Girlforce look like that.

As with all general quizzes, you tend to find yourself not always able to locate the right answer for you, so you end up choosing the best answer of those available, even when none of them truly apply. This can skew the results. And for those who don't land completely in one Body Type, it can be challenging to know which Body Type specfic advice to follow because different Body Types, according to this book, should avoid certain things or use them moderately, whereas others should use them more liberally.

This reader would have liked to have seen a bit more information on how certain foods interact with specific Body Types and meditation, along with a few more examples of creative visualization.

Girlforce interested me enough that I wandered out to do a bit of additional research about Ayurveda. What I found at www.ayurveda.com is that this philosophy believes "...the entire cosmos is the interplay of the energies of the five great elements--Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth." Why the other two elements are not included in Girlforce, is not explained.

Overall, Girlforce by Nikki Goldstein will appeal to its target market. A healthy diet, regular exercise, and stress management are good for everyone, not just teens. By encouraging young women to get into this type of daily routine earlier in life, they will have an advantage over those who wait until they are much older to make such lifestyle changes.


Title: Girlforce: A Girls' Guide to the Body and Soul
Author: Nikki Goldstein
Publisher: Bloomsbury U.S.A.
ISBN-10: 1-59990-354-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-59990-354-5
SRP: $14.99 (U.S.)

What Your Mother Never Told You by Richard Dudum--Book Review

This is a warning that the review you are about to read is not my typical review. Every once in a while you read a book that is so powerful and touches you in such a way that you must talk about it in that fashion.

Such is the case with What Your Mother Never Told You: A Survival Guide for Teenage Girls by Richard M. Dudum.

When I began reading this book I kept thinking, "Gee, all this advice sounds like common sense. Why would anyone want to buy it?" But I'm a month shy of 40 years old, of course it all seems like common sense to me; I've already lived through it.

As soon as I got to the section titled How to Handle Yourself, however, everything changed. Suddenly, I was no longer a wife and mother with all my wordly experiences. I was back in high school trying to fit in, struggling to figure out who I was while dealing with the loss of my mother who died of cancer my freshman year. I had no confidence, no idea what I should or shouldn't be doing, and no one to guide me into adulthood because my father and I rarely spoke.

What a difference this book would have made in my life had it only been available back then!

What Your Mother Never Told You teaches young women about the importance of self-respect, removing themselves from situations they have no business being in, and how to get out if they happen to find themselves in one of those sticky situations. It talks about sex, drugs, alcohol, boys, personal safety, Internet safety, and many other topics that young women must know about in order to survive and thrive in today's world.

Dudum should be applauded for his dead-on, practical advice that he shares in a direct manner that young people will appreciate. There's no hand holding going on here, just a straightforward approach that reaches right to the hearts and minds of young women everywhere.

Also included are five Appendices including links to specific drug details; steps to take if the reader or someone she knows has been assaulted; signs to watch for that will help the reader identify if one of her friends is participating in self-destructive behavior; how to help a friend in need; and the lyrics to a song written by the author's son that summarizes the messages Dudum is trying to impart to the reader.

What Your Mother Never Told You is a must read for every young woman and should be available in school libraries and at your high school's guidance office. I encourage parents and daughters to read it together. I'll be tucking my copy away so that I can share it with my daughters when they are old enough.

These final words come from Page 221 and 222 of What Your Mother Never Told You and sum up my exact thoughts on how I feel as a mother of two girls growing up in a world that is sometimes less than safe:

"I want you to have fun, go to parties, meet boys and girls, dance, laugh, sing, and have a great time. At the same time, I want you to always anticipate and avoid potentially harmful people, places, situations, and the type of fun that can blur your reputation. I want you to always be smart and safe...I want you to be confident, elegant, and hold yourself to the highest standard, a standard that is beyond compare. A standard that YOU can and will always be proud of...I want you to always respect yourself."


Title: What Your Mother Never Told You: A Survival Guide for Teenage Girls
Author: Richard M. Dudum
Publisher: Island Publishing
ISBN-10: 1-4196-7869-8
ISBN-13: 9781419678691
U.S. Price: $14.95

Richard Dudum and What Your Mother Never Told You

Richard Dudum is a San Francisco trial attorney, a realtor, a musician, a summer camp director, and a cancer survivor. He is also a husband, and the father of two sons and two daughters.

The best part of his life has been the past twenty-eight years working with hundreds of teenagers and young adults, including his own children. He's tried to provide tools to help them successfully communicate and navigate through the turbulent teenage years. Over the years, he's seen the same issues hurt so many girls so many times that he decided to write down his insights, thoughts, and advice. The result is his new book, What Your Mother Never Told You.

Read an excerpt:

Chatper 61 - This Book is a Downer and is Killing my Social Life


I'm not trying to ruin your social life by writing this book. It's your life, not your social life that I am interested in.

If I didn't think you were worth it, I wouldn't take my time writing this book. You may think I don't know you. You're right, but I know who you can be. I know what you are capable of. I have spent the last twenty-eight years talking to teenagers and young adults just like you. You all share so many beautiful things in common. What I discuss in this book relates to all of you. You are not alone. You are absolutely worth my time in writing this book.

I want you to have fun, go to parties, meet boys and girls, dance, laugh, sing, and have a great time. At the same time, I want you to always anticipate and avoid potentially harmful people, places, situations, and the type of fun that can blur your reputation. I want you to always be smart and safe. I want you to try your best never to cross the line. I want you to make perfectly clear to the world exactly where your line is so that there is never a shadow of doubt about who you are, what you do, and where you stand—by doing so, I want you to define yourself!

I want you to be confident, elegant, and hold yourself to the highest standard, a standard that is beyond compare. A standard that YOU can and will always be proud of. I am ask­ing you to be your very best all of the time. When you walk in a room, I want everyone there to have the absolute greatest respect for you and to hold you in the highest regard. I want you to always respect yourself.

But far more important than what I want is what YOU want. YOU have to want all of these things. I am absolutely not asking any more of you than you should ask of yourself. Do these things for YOU—not for me—not for anyone else—only YOU!

Don't worry, your life and social life will be great. Keep on reading. We're almost finished!

What Your Mother Never Told You can be purchased at Amazon.com.


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