Customer Reviews

A Smart Girl's Guide to Boys (American Girl) (American Girl Library)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I wasn't going to get this title for my nine year old. I thought she was too young. But she REALLY wanted it, telling me, "Mom, I've had tons of crushes already!" I bought it and read it first. While I still think she's a little young for some of the information (especially the "going together" section toward the end), a lot of it was very age appropriate. Rather than just give it to her, we are reading it together. (Thankfully I have a very open and trusting daughter who doesn't get embarrassed by "growing up" issues.) I explained to her that reading about these things does not give her permission to do them.

I strongly disagree with the review on July 13, 2006. I feel that this is an empowering book for girls. It (like most of the books in this series) aids in building self esteem. I found it full of great advice, reinforcing my values and beliefs.

And, for this age group, I appreciate that it doesn't go into sexual relationships. There is a time and place for those books. I am relieved to be able to give her a book about the feelings and situations with boys that come BEFORE intimate relationships.

I'm 12 and i think this is a great book for ages 10 and up. (Some say 7 and up, but I don't think 7 year-old's crushes are that "intense" and they don't really have boyfriends.) But anyway, I'm just telling what age group this book should really be.

After reading the comments by Christian reviewers I felt compelled to share some thoughts. I am Christian but I don't find fault with this book. First, I read the book to see what is in it. It doesn't go beyond holding hands or kissing and points out that kissing is something personal and private. I think parents need to consider their own daughter and their own morals to decide if the book is appropriate. If it is, at what age is it appropriate?

I found that for my almost 12 year old who is headed to middle school next fall it's time to deal with these issues. Most of the book is completely acceptable and I intend to discuss behaviors and ideas that I think are too mature with my daughter. It's a good way to open discussion and to provide common ground for us to talk about things when it comes time for her first dance, etc.

The book isn't anti Christian it just doesn't deal with religion--Christian or Jewish or Muslim etc. The religious ideals can come from parents! Every little girl isn't Christian. I suspect that even within "Christian" groups there are differences between Methodist, Baptist, Catholic etc. and within those denominations I suspect there are differences between individual churches and individual families.

The book is well written (for the tween/teen audience), colorful and deals thoughtfully with the issues. I think it's got a place on my daughter's shelf.

I found this book at the library and it looked interesting, so I started reading it. What I found was basically a girl's guide to everything boy-related. Figuring out whether a boy likes you, turning down a boy who asks you out, surviving crushes, going to dances, being dumped, and much more are included. The illustrations accompanying the text are pretty funny, and many quizzes are also included such as "Are You Boy-Crazy?"

While the advice is pretty good and helpful, I wouldn't recommend this to anybody who actually has boy experience. If you are a first-timer who is just starting to have crushes and such, you would probably find this to be helpful and imformative. If you have boy experience, you probably would know everything that is covered in this book.

My then 10 year old daughter wanted this book long before I felt she was old enough. I allowed my sister to purchase the book from the American Girl Chicago store since she was visiting the city and give it to my daughter for her 11th birthday. It has good information to keep my daughter happy without too much information. American Girl has a good way of addressing issues for girls without giving information that is best coming from parents. Another great AG publication. I think we have them all!

This book will give you a lot of helpful tips when to comes to boys!!! I would recomend it for a girl who is just starting to like boys. This book gives you very little explaining though. Sometimes You don`t get what the heck is going on in the comic like pictures. But, still this book is GREAT!! Combines teen magazine with safe and real!

As a 12 year old just begging to think of boys in any romantic way, this book helped a lot with crushes, imtroducing yourself, dealing with friends who are jelous, ect, ect. Then, once you gte into a relashionship, there is a big question mark. I would still reccomend this book, but only for 11-13 year olds who havn't had a real relashionship yet.

We all know that being a pre-teen girl is not easy. This book provides a matter of fact response and is at their age level so they can understand it. There isn't any lecturing but some common sense advice.
I wish this book were around when I was growing up.

My grandmother purchased this book for me. I opened it, expecting a flirtatious, skim-the-surface, no-depth overview of boys.

Boy, was I wrong!

American Girl's opposite-gender book was totally levelheaded. Detailed and specific, without being TOO graphic (if you know what I mean), it's basically a guide to boys. Some topics:

-Dealing with one-way love from either side

-Ideas for boy-girl pairs to do

And much more! If I could I'd give it ten stars.

This book is great for us young girls because it talks about relationships with boys, and everything in that book helped me a lot! I think that it's great about telling really young girls about 9-12, about puberty etc.