Taking Care of Your Girls: A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens [Paperback]

Marisa C. Weiss (Author), Isabel Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2008

The real facts about your “girls” and how to take care of them

“Well, all my friends think they will never have breasts—and it’s not funny—because a lot of girls feel this way.”
—Elena, 13

“I went up two sizes over summer break! I started seventh grade with a ‘C’ cup. Then my breasts got weird pink stripes on the side. What happened?”
—Veronica, 12

Girls are as anxious and confused about their breasts as ever. That’s why Marisa Weiss, M.D., an oncologist and breast health specialist, and her teenage daughter, Isabel, decided to create Taking Care of Your “Girls.” Together, they polled more than three thousand girls and their moms and came up with a surprisingly huge list of worries and misconceptions. Based on their research, you’ll get answers to questions like:

• How do I know when I need to get my first bra—and what kind should I get?
• Do big breasts have a higher risk of breast cancer than small ones?
• How do I get rid of stretch marks?
• When will my breasts stop growing?
• How do I examine my own breasts?
• Will the size of my breasts even out?
• Do tanning, antiperspirants, wearing a bra at night, and talking on a cell phone cause breast cancer?

A groundbreaking book for both mothers and daughters, Taking Care of Your “Girls” is a practical guide to breast care and a girl-to-girl conversation about the feelings and emotions that come with the territory.


“This all-in-one, indispensable breast health guide captures exactly what teen girls and their moms really need: practical, easy-to-read, great advice. It’s one of the best gifts you can give to your girl.”
—Harvey Karp, M.D., F.A.A.P., author of The Happiest Toddler on the Block, board member of Healthy Child, Healthy World

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An oncologist and founder of BreastCancer.org, Weiss (Living Beyond Breast Cancer) and her 18-year-old daughter have surveyed 3,000 mothers and their daughters to produce this chatty but informative book on breast health for girls and adolescents. The text covers everything from getting the first bra to risk factors for breast cancer (which, the authors note, is nearly nonexistent in teens), and is peppered with questions posed by girls of all ages, ranging from when to start regular breast exams to why breasts sometimes feel painful or tender. Reassuring their readers that breasts come in all shapes and sizes, the mother-daughter duo deals with body image, teasing and bullying, surgery for breast reduction or enhancement and how to do a breast self-exam. Although they stress that for girls most lumps and pains are harmless and normal signs of growth, the message that early care of the breasts is vital rings clear. In a chapter called Think Pink Live Green, the authors arm girls with choices they can make for their own breast health future, including eating organic foods, avoiding drinking and smoking, exercising and keeping weight in check. This empowering book will be an excellent impetus for honest conversations about breast health and development. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

MARISA C. WEISS, M.D., is the president and founder of Breastcancer.org. She currently practices at Lankenau Hospital in the Philadelphia area, where she serves as Director of Breast Radiation Oncology and Director of Breast Health Outreach. Her daughter, ISABEL FRIEDMAN, is a college student at the University of Pennsylvania, who recently graduated from Friends’ Central School in the Philadelphia area and was an assistant teacher at the Children’s School of Science in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307406962
• ISBN-13: 978-0307406965
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #516,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You go girls!, September 5, 2008

By 

Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Taking Care of Your Girls: A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens (Paperback)

I was watching a sitcom many years ago, and the lead female character, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, referred to her breasts as "the girls." The lead male said in admiration "Those aren't the girls. They are the women's auxiliary!" I have no idea why that line stuck in my head. Maybe because I was jealous of Jamie Lee Curtis's perfect bust.

Women and girls have always had mixed feelings about their breasts, and very little notion of how to care for them. Taking Care of Your "Girls" is a book long overdue. Written by a mother and her college-aged daughter, it is full of good advice, funny stories, diagrams and many, many quotes from girls and women.

I like the message that everyone should be at peace in their own skin; that there isn't a perfect way to look. I'm still jealous of Jamie Lee Curtis's figure, but I'm comfortable with myself. I'm handing this book to my teenage daughter when she gets home from high school. Anyone with "girls" will appreciate it.

Here's the chapter list:

Introduction: Isabel's Take

Part One: Knowing Your "Girls" Inside and Out
1. Breast Development: Hormones, Puffy Nipples, Growing Breasts
2. Breast Size and Shape: Just Right, Too Big, Too Small, Uneven
3. What's That? Noticing, Feeling, and Checking for Breast Changes
4. Skin Stuff: Stretch Marks, Breakouts, Rashes
5. Nipple Tips: Itches, Fluid, Hair, Inverted, and Other Stuff
6. Normal Breast Changes: Lumps, Cysts, Thick Areas, Pain

Part Two: Taking Care of Your "Girls"
7. Self-Image and Teasing: Standing Up for Yourself and Feeling Your Personal Power
8. Bras for You: Cami, Athletic, Underwire, Padded, Lace
9. Show Off, Cover Up, or Glide By? Dress to Express and Move with Confidence
10. When You Want Your Breast Size to be Different: From Padded Bras to Surgery
11. From Tight Bras to Antiperspirants: Replacing Breast Cancer Fears with Facts
12. Think Pink, Live Green: A Planet-Friendly Guide for Healthy Breasts

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How good it is to feel normal!, September 9, 2008

By 

Amber Scott - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taking Care of Your Girls: A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens (Paperback)

This book brought back so many memories for me! When I turned 11 my mom gave me the book Our Bodies Ourselves, which made having my period seem far less deadly. So I romped into adolescence feeling educated and prepared, and everything happened according to plan. I got my period once and then didn't for almost a year, but I knew that was normal thanks to my book. Unfortunately, I also got one boob and then didn't get the other one for almost a year, and I had no idea that was going to happen. That summer of being 13 was one of the most embarrassing of my life... just try being a C cup on one side and a boy on the other AND spending every day of your summer at the neighborhood pool. After that year, when things evened out, the embarrassment subsided, thank god! Then my mom gave me a shower placard to show me how to do self exams, and I read the part about breast discharge, squeezed my areola and just knew I was going to die of breast cancer -- that I was going to be the youngest person ever in the world to DIE of breast cancer. Now, with two healthy, happy, albeit stretch marked beyond repair breasts, I realize that my fears were a waste of emotion. I was perfectly normal!! Taking Care of Your Girls is just the necessary volume to add to the collection of books All Middle School Aged Girls Should Get. It isn't clinical, but it is well-informed and helpful. It speaks to you like a good friend about things you're really not ready to share with good friends when you're that age. Thanks for finally writing this book, from me and my girls!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping the "Girls" You Love Healthy, April 15, 2009

By 

Story Circle Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taking Care of Your Girls: A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens (Paperback)

The mother-daughter duo of Marisa Weiss, doctor, and Isabel Friedman, college student, works perfectly together to offer practical and medical advice on how to take care of our breasts. From puffy nipples to different breast sizes, Weiss answers every girl's question in an easy-to-understand format. Friedman offers side comments in the teenage vernacular creating a style that converts an often embarrassing subject into one we can even discuss with friends and relatives. Especially since that's where we got our own peculiar breast style in the first place. Weiss tells us that if we start developing slowly and wish our breasts were larger, we should just look at the women in our families to see what ours will probably look like by the time we're 25 or 30 years old.

Worries about breast size, nipple changes, normal lumps, bras, and breast cancer may disappear after reading this book. The authors reassure us what to look for, how to react, and who to call when we're not sure if our breasts are healthy. They also cover self-image, teasing, padded and push-up bras, how to maximize our breasts or how to minimize them.

A book I could have used when I was a teenager, I'm definitely going to buy a few copies for the special "girls" in my life.

by Susan M. Andrus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women