All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype to Celebrate Real Beauty [Paperback]

Audrey D. Brashich (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Don't believe everything you read.

Open any magazine or turn on any T.V. show and you'll be bombarded with air brushed, perfectly styled and made-up celebrities and super models, icons of beauty that real women can never match. Too often, girls, measure themselves against these unrealistic images and find themselves lacking. But we can all break free from the cult of celebrity and start liking the face we see in the mirror once we understand that many of these images of beauty are all made up.

In the spirit of Fast Food Nation, media-awareness activist Audrey Brashich delivers an in-depth, informative, and eye-opening look at the effect the media and pop culture has on young women's self images.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–Former model turned teen magazine writer and editor turned media-awareness activist, Brashich has created an accessible guide that explores the relationship between self-esteem and pop culture. Taking her cues from authors such as Naomi Wolf, she challenges readers to feel good about themselves in spite of a culture that celebrates thinness and celebrity, and to see that beauty comes in many shapes and sizes. She shares personal experiences and incorporates quotes from teens, emphasizing that while it's OK to enjoy the occasional celebrity magazine or episode of America's Next Top Model, it is important to realize that it is hype. Brashich poses questions to readers and recommends activities that will help others see through the marketing. A book that offers both support and validation.–Elaine Baran Black, Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Once a starstruck teen whose admiration for "models, stars, and 'It' girls" led her to a short-lived modeling career, Brashich now writes for magazines such as Sassy and Shape. Here, she myth-busts the glamour of female celebrity, combining chatty humor ("True, [stars] go to the Oscars, but that show is freakin' long and boring") with quotes from real girls and provocative facts (based on their Body Mass Indexes, recent Miss America winners would have been considered malnourished by the World Health Organization). Though Brashich persuasively makes her points, the book's design is workmanlike, and its intended audience is difficult to pinpoint; chipper line drawings and earnest suggestions seem to target tweens, while references to the infamous Paris Hilton video and to Bitch magazine seem best suited to YAs. But the substantive, often entertaining content, backed up by endnotes and further resources, will serve both groups well, and many readers will find their way to Brashich's Web site, where they will be able post responses to the book's "Back Talk" sidebars. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802777449
• ISBN-13: 978-0802777447
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,129,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been involved in teen and women's journalism since 1993. I've worked and written for magazines such as Sassy, YM, Seventeen, Elle Girl, Cosmo Girl, Teen People, Lucky, Working Woman, Shape, Ms., Health, Healing Lifestyles & Spas and others. My work focuses on body image, understanding media influences, wellness, parenting and travel. I'm also the author of All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty (Walker Books for Young Readers, 2006).

I've been lucky enough to appear on TV and radio in the US and Canada (CNN, NBC, CBS, Urban Rush, Breakfast Television, CBC and many others) as a commentator. I've also served on the board of directors for Mind on the Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering critical analysis of media messages, and consulted with national organizations such as Girls Inc. on their programming and policies for girls.

I'm married with two young kids...and my current idea of bliss? An opportunity to do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Alone. In the quiet. Ahhhhh.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALL MADE UP takes on TomKat and Brangelina!, May 21, 2006

By 

Catherine Dee "Catelouise" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype to Celebrate Real Beauty (Paperback)

WOW! This easy and entertaining read by former model and girls' activist Audrey Brashich could not have arrived at a better moment. American women and girls are increasingly frothing at the mouth for the mundane details of the lives of Britney, Jen, and "celebutantes" like Paris Hilton. This addictive focus on a handful of Beautiful People is drowning out substance, like "real" news of the world instead of who's choosing an exotic baby name, real achievements by real women, instead of who's in rehab again or was seen on a shopping spree, and real beauty instead of an unattainable combination of Barbielike measurements. Many girls these days "get" that there's a difference between stars'/models' lives and reality. However, media mania is so pervasive that girls are bound to be affected in many subtle ways. ALL MADE UP will help any girl see herself and her world more clearly. Every preteen and teen (female and male) should check this book out now.--Catherine Dee, author of THE GIRLS' GUIDE TO LIFE and THE GIRLS' BOOK OF WISDOM

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Girls, read this now!, May 9, 2006

By 

Eva "Pure Eval" (LA, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype to Celebrate Real Beauty (Hardcover)

I wish I had this book when I was young. I want to give it to every teenage girl growing up in today's twisted world of skinny, shallow celebrity worship--and to every parent of every teen girl, and to every teen boy who blindly believes what he's told about what makes chicks cool and attractive. It's a rare treat to find a book on this subject that is smart without being preachy, informative without being pedantic, and provocative without being alienating. This is what teen magazines should be. This is what parenting guides should be. This is what we all should have been told as we entered puberty.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a new outlook on life!, May 4, 2006

By 

divaesque (chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype to Celebrate Real Beauty (Paperback)

Media ia so much a part of our lives that we so rarely even stop to consider the effect it has on something as fundamental as body image.
The situation gets worse when you try to consider just how to speak to the younger generation about such things without invoking pedantics.
But Audrey Brashich gets right to the heart of the matter in this book, by speaking the right language, using all the right examples, and never, ever preaching.
More than an information goldmine, this book is a great guide on how to decipher the media--and to take away from it what's useful and good about it, and leave the rest of it behind.
It's a terrific resource for teachers!