Reviving Ophelia by Mary Phipher

This book is about female adolescent development and it’s considered a classic by psychological folk. I read it with a group of teachers and I must say we were less than thrilled. The author gave many case studies and scratched the surface of the reasons why teen girls often become depressed and freakish, but she didn’t offer many solutions for parents or teachers. Basically, I gleaned wisdom from her description of the “false self” these girls feel compelled to create in order to be considered feminine, and I appreciated her points about how we rarely allow girls to become frustrated or angry. We do a disservice to them in that respect because we don’t validate all their emotions and we don’t allow them to suffer the hardships of the learning process. But, other than that, I would say you could pass it over. My book’s at school so (again) I can’t type out my favorite quote, but it had something to do with the fact that we have to send all our girls to self-defense classes to ward off rapists and sickos, when really we should have classes for young men to learn how to treat women.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

(Young Adult) This was the first book picked by my student book club and it was a wonderfully entertaining read. "Elsewhere" is the author's own conception of heaven. When the main character (Lizzie) dies at 15 in a hit and run accident, she "wakes up" on a cruise ship bound for Elsewhere. Lizzie is dead and in Elsewhere she will keep getting younger until she is a baby again and sent back to earth. She lives with her (now 34-year-old) grandmother, and there are numerous adjustments to be made and future dreams that she will have to toss to the wind. It's amazing how Lizzie comes to terms with her new "backward" life. Though the book was written for teens, I think many adults would enjoy it as well. It was so original and creative. Unfortunately, I can't put in my favorite quote right now because I left my book at school.