The Truth: I'm a Girl, I'm Smart and I Know Everything [Paperback]

Barbara Becker Holstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

"A delightful experience for moms and daughters to read together and talk about their reactions and thoughts. It helps the generations understand each other better and relate to each other by sharing thoughts about their common feelings and life experiences. Reading this book will make you laugh and cry, and that's the truth!" -Lucinda M. Seares-Monica, PsyD.
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THE TRUTH is a delightful, humorous secret diary, written by a girl who is 11-12 years of age. She is wise and yet innocent. Her words acknowledge those priceless truths that we all knew as kids.

She makes us cry and laugh and see ourselves. Everybody loves reading her thoughts, secrets, adventures and solutions to difficult problems. Girls are naturally curious and this book gives them a real opportunity to see how a girl like themselves in so many ways handles her toughest problems and most personal thoughts.

Mom can read the book along with her daughter and not only be brought back to herself as a youngster, but find on every page relevant topics for discussion with her daughter:

• How do you handle a bully?
• How do you handle a crush on a boy?
• What about teasing?
• How do you find time to listen to your daughter?
• Do we have enough fun together?
• What really matters?

The book includes space for the girl and/or mom to make notes or her own diary entries. The book ends with discussion ideas that can also open up whole new areas of topics for mom and daughter or the young reader and other members of her family, friends,or teachers.

Behind this very easy read, written by a positive psychologist with over 25 years of clinical experience, is the psychological message to the girls reading THE TRUTH that they can and must keep the fire and passion of their girlhoods as they grow up and have the courage to carry the most precious parts of themselves into adulthood.

For parents the book is a way back to what made them feel most special at 10, 11 or 12. Once parents are back in the place where their kids live, then listening, trust and real sharing can begin.

Every girl and every parent wants this kind of TRUTH!

And once they have the TRUTH, continue the story as the girl gets older and shares her feelings and thoughts in SECRETS  You Tell Me Yours and I'll Tell you Mine...maybe

Editorial Reviews

Review

A very slim, diary-like book, The Truth (I'm a Girl, I'm Smart and I Know Everything) is the sort of book that appeals to girls and grown women alike. It is sweet and somewhat sadly nostalgic. Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein lays out this story in the form of a young girl s diary, with all the high emotions, fears and joys of that time of life. It brings us back to remembering small happinesses, allowing them to make us glow - instead of steeping the all-importance of bills, chores and work. This is a very different kind of self-help book. Each page is dated and begins with the expected Dear Diary.... Each page offers an insight or a note of something to remember for when she is an adult. The Girl, whose life we get to peek in on, begins with an entry on September 20th, after a foreword scratched into the first page of the book: ....This is the real truth. This is where I will write everything I don t want to forget, starting tomorrow! She writes her fears about growing up, the physical and emotional realities she faces. She writes of her confusion and pain as her parents fight. She writes about her first crush, of being in love for the first time with a boy named Paul, whose name is doodled in her diary in a little heart. It is an almost daily commentary in a painfully familiar and immature voice about the things that we, as adults, have forgotten really do matter. Right from the beginning are big truths that can bottom out an adult heart. The sincerity and simple reality of the statements cannot be ignored. I hate my mother sometimes. I finally asked her how I will know when I need a bra? She just walked back into the kitchen saying, 'You re too young. You should be out playing or doing chores.' I shouldn t have bothered. It seems that too often the important questions of life are brushed off for any number of reasons. Reading the frustrations of this one girl, we can be reminded that regardless of the answers, the questioners deserve attention and respect. Simpler truths are laid out as well: The truth is people shouldn t make fun of you. It really hurts. and If you feel pretty, then you look pretty. These are little things in life that can have a profound effect on how we live on a daily basis, and big things we can teach to encourage our girls as they grow from child to woman. The sheer veracity and real importance of the youthful feelings in The Truth cannot be denied. It should be woven into every girl s world, whether she is just beginning in life or being reminded when she is much older. From personal experience, it is also a wonderful book for mothers and daughters to share. --Carolynn Evans-2008 for curled up with a good kids book

About the Author

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein is the originator of The Enchanted Self. She has been a positive psychologist in private practice and licensed in the states of New Jersey and Massachusetts since 1981. Dr. Barbara speaks regularly on radio programs around the country, and appears on television in New York and New Jersey. Her inspiring audio shows and podcasts can be found on her website. Her show Happiness, For Women Only is drawing thousands of listeners each week. She is in private practice in Long Branch, New Jersey with her husband, Dr. Russell M. Holstein.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: The Enchanted Self Press (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979895200
• ISBN-13: 978-0979895203
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Self-Help > Journal Writing

More About the Author

I have been a positive psychologist in private practice for the past twenty five years. In the course of working with my clients, I originated the idea of THE ENCHANTED SELF(R), a positive psychology therapy where I teach people how to recognize and utilize their strengths, talents, skills and even lost potential. I have developed a number of methods, including using our memories to rediscover what is right about ourselves and our lives, rather than what went wrong, helping people to overcome adversity, experience positive emotions and live the good life!

Since developing this concept, I've been able to use many tools to bring the Enchanted Self to everyone, particularly women and girls. I've written many books on the topic, starting with THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy, and then Recipes for Enchantment, The Secret Ingredient is YOU! All my books are available on Amazon. Very popular is my fictional diary for girls, The Truth (I'm a girl, I'm smart and I know everything). Most recently, my newest novel is a romantic mystery titled Next Year in Jerusalem! Romance, Mystery & Spiritual Awakenings, Part 1.

I really love to teach and educate about happiness and how to benefit from positive psychology in ways that let us lead lives of meaning and happiness. You can find me all over the place on the web. In particular, www.enchantedself.com, www.thetruthforgirls.com, www.next-year-in-jerusalem.com and on You Tube. Just look for me on You Tube via Barbara Becker Holstein.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

296 of 313 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe all the 5 star reviews !!! September 4, 2009

By CoconutMango

Format:Paperback

I have to tell you - after reading all the 5 star reviews, I thought 'I need to order this for my 12 year old' WRONG !! I gave her this book, and a short time after she came to me very upset and distraught, wondering why I would give her such trash to read ! I began to look at the book thoroughly, and have to agree. She said, 'who thinks like this ?' I don't know of any girls in that age category who are gaga over guys, obsessed with having a boy friend, etc. I guess if you don't mind your child reading things such as (p.40 for instance) "I still watch Paul all the time. I am still sure this is love. I imagine us together, swimming naked in a pool and then hugging and kissing...'

Sorry but not all girls in this age category care to read dumbed down books. Totally inappropriate. My daughter was really upset and wants to send this book back to amazon for a refund, I have to agree. Don't believe all the hype here - there are PLENTY of high quality books that deal with growing up. Save your money, and do your research before buying this trash.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars 10 year old girls are smarter than this book June 18, 2009

By RCO

Format:Paperback

I bought this book based on uniformly glowing reviews. Both I and my 10 year old daughter find the writing very stilted - an adult trying to write like a 10 year old which, in this case, is very off-putting and artificial. While the topics of the diary entries are certainly those which would interest a girl of this age, each one ends with some supposed pearl of wisdom that is, in most cases, facile and insulting even to the 10 year olds. One particularly silly entry that comes to mind is the one where the writer comments on adults who swear as a serious threat to "making the world a beautiful place." My 10 year old really laughed at that. In fairness, other entries are somewhat better but overall the book is a disappointment. Ten year old girls are more intelligent than this.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great gift for any age May 16, 2008

By Pauline Wallin

Format:Paperback

The Truth is written from the perspective of a young girl who lived decades ago - before cell phones, before the Internet and other technological advances. Yet it has timeless appeal.

As you'll experience from reading this fictitious diary, the hopes, dreams and fears of today's preteens have not changed much from those of their grandmothers.

This book is a great gift for any age.

Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
Author: "Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide for Transforming Self-defeating Behavior"