Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul: Real Stories by Real Girls About Real Stuff (Chicken Soup for the Soul) [Paperback]

Jack Canfield (Author), Mark Victor Hansen (Author), Patty Hansen (Author), Irene Dunlap (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Chicken Soup for the Soul

From Barbies to your first bra, from holding your teddy bear to slowdancing with your first boyfriend, from knowing everyone in elementary school to trying to make new friends in middle school. . . . When dealing with these changes, it's no wonder preteen girls can freak out from time to time.

Consider Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul your survival guide! From reading the true experiences of other preteen girls, as well as women who've been there, you'll see that you're not the only one who feels clueless and insecure sometimes. You'll read about tough subjects, such as peer pressure, cliques, divorce and loss, as well as fun “girls only” stories about friendship, embarrassing moments (these could take up an entire book!), body changes and first crushes. These stories will make you laugh, cry and realize that girl power is truly something to celebrate. You'll turn to this book again and again, whenever you need the advice only girls can give.

Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul is sure to be what a girl wants!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–Readers are served up a helping of inspirational stories from girls who are relating their current experiences and from women who are recounting their pasts. It can be reassuring to realize that everyone feels inadequate and/or awkward sometimes and that even popular girls have moments of insecurity and doubt. These stories cover a wide range of topics from surviving middle school and parents divorce to peer pressure and cliques as well as friendship, first boyfriends, and puberty. The collection has a nice balance of poignancy, silliness, and straight talk. Empowering and motivating, these selections will warm the spirits and help boost girls confidence. Though theres nothing particularly new here, this book is a good fit for most libraries.–Elaine Baran Black, Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are the #1 New York Times and USA Today best-selling authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Patty Hansen and Irene Dunlap coauthored Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul, one of the most successful Chicken Soup titles. It was awarded the 1999 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice for 'Favorite Book of the Year.' They live in California.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: HCI (September 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757303137
• ISBN-13: 978-0757303135
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the cocreator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes 40 New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor with Gay Hendricks of You've GOT to Read This Book! An internationally renowned corporate trainer, keynote speaker, and popular radio and TV talk show guest, he lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ***I second the WARNING***, November 19, 2006

By 

A concerned mom (Unionville, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul: Real Stories by Real Girls About Real Stuff (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (Paperback)

I have never once reviewed a product on Amazon or anywhere else, but like the other ADULT reviewers, felt parents/teachers should be warned about this book. This book definitly should NOT say 8 and up. My 9 year old picked this up at her school's book fair and I didn't think twice about it. I just went up to tuck her in, she was reading it and was very upset and confused about all the stories she has read. Let's see, some of these stories include: the girl whose best friend was killed in a horrible accident, self mutilation, molestation by male babysitter, anorexia/bulemia issues, suicide, girls who are relentlessly bullied and boy chasing. These are topics that are very real and some are quite graphic, if it was a movie it would be rated R, why is it OK to market this book to 8 year olds? She is a mature 9, but is not at all ready to handle most of these issues. If I have to recommend this book, it would be for at least 13 and up, or at the very least read it yourself before handing it to a child thinking it's an 'uplifting' book for girls. I consider myself fairly liberal and easy-going, but will be discussing the sale of this book with the school librarian (k-4) before the next book fair. I really feel like a bit of my daughter's childhood was just swept away in 30 minutes, as corny as that sounds. I blame myself, I should've read it first or at least skimmed it instead of assuming it would be about girls rescuing puppies, lending a hand to a handicapped friend or the pressure of selling girl scout cookies!

54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Parental Warning, November 27, 2006

By 

Heidi B. (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul: Real Stories by Real Girls About Real Stuff (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (Paperback)

I also made the mistake of judging a book by its cover and buying this book for my fourth grade daughter at the Scholastic Bookfair.
Do you want your daughter to read about a girl whose parents divorced when she was ten and writes "my method for dealing with depression was a razor blade and a locked bedroom door". This story called "Sleep-Away Camp" deals with self-mutilation.
Your child can read about a four-year old girl and her sister getting felt "in places that aren't meant to be seen by other people." How about a suicide story? How about a mother with flesh-eating disease? Or the deaths of best friends, fathers, or the death of a mother by mixed meds? It is all in this book. Of course, the authors also include anorexia and a mixed bag of other dysfunctional behaviors. Not quite so heart-warming as it is disturbing. I definitely feel I was misled by the title and cover presentation. This book needs a "young adult" rating.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talks about the "real" stuff...., November 27, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul: Real Stories by Real Girls About Real Stuff (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (Paperback)

I noticed that some parents didn't like all the stuff it talked about like bullying; bulliamain; body changing; bra; dating; ect... But as an 11 year old girl, I found this book most interesting. It talks about the stuff that growing girls really want to know about. It talks about the major things that girls need to know about when they get older.

Not all the stories were bad, in fact, I liked a lot of them! I liked the dating ones because they made me laugh at some of the things that happened to girls and their crushes! I also liked the friendship ones and the Free To Be Me's. They were good!

Some parents should be careful and cautionious about what their young girls (8, 9, and maybe 10) read about. It might scare them and leave them wondering about "stuff.' To me the right age group should be 11- 16.

It's good - a few stories!