Girl Power

Overview

In this extraordinary book you will discover the secrets and deepest needs of girls from all across the country - the thoughts, the fears, and the dreams of girls between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. You will hear from teen mothers and beauty queens, girl rappers and farm girls, surfers and sorority sisters. Theirs are voices that have too long gone unheard and unheeded, silenced and ignored. And now in this stunning collection they dare to reveal the things that will change your preconceptions and touch your heart.

Editorial Reviews

The writing by female teenagers collected here is tremendously insightful, but unfortunately the examination meant to bind it together does not equal it. Carlip, a screenwriter and artist who volunteers at a Los Angeles center for troubled girls, has done a good job of collecting writing by girls from all walks of life, but her approach takes them at face value, without analysis, and her commentary is bland in comparison to the girls' own writing. Nonetheless, these honest essays and letters remain undeniably powerful. "For my mother Maureen/ Cause of death is suicide/ My mother poured gasoline on her body/ And set herself alite!" writes one gang member. A teenage mother's blunt narration of how she had sex for the first time at 12 is equally jolting. Most of the excerpts are short, and Carlip's interruptions are often distracting. And though some of her categories are certainly exclusive of each other, she presents them as if they all are. Is it truly impossible for a "Riot Grrrl" also to be a skateboarder? Carlip wins points for inclusiveness?she devotes chapters to gang members, Native Americans, athletes, pageant entrants and more?but she reveals her own naivete rather than any hidden sociological nugget when she notes that she was "shocked" to discover so many girls writing about abuse.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Author Information

Bio of Hillary Carlip

Hillary Carlip, author of Girl Power, has written commentaries for NPR, and is a performer and artist. She is the creator of the acclaimed personal essay Web site freshyarn.com, and she lives in Los Angeles.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Grand Central Publishing

Filesize

6.88 MB

Number of Pages

368

eBook ISBN

9780446567534