Be Yourself and Other Bad Advice is a very helpful, readable, relatable book with a bit of a subtitle problem. Problem might not be the most accurate word. Limiting comes to mind, but specific could also be used, and specific isn’t bad per se. A Teen Girl’s Guide to Unlearning the Rules is the subtitle and immediately identifies the book’s target audience. That subtitle will almost certainly rule out all but the most read-hearty boys.
I realize that characteristic probably doesn’t exist. There isn’t a group of boys clamoring in protest because a book they wanted to read was marketed, or created, for girls. Is it possible that Be Your Self is a Trojan Horse to get boys to read more? Is it possible that 20% of teen boys stuck in an endless state of arrested development are capable of thoughts beyond video games and eating?
Be Yourself has lessons that apply to any teen, but is a package aimed at the young ladies. It’s also extremely effective at its messaging. I just showed the book to a high school girl, who is probably just a bit older than its intended demographic. She’s a reader, but is eager to offer non-biased opinions on any subject. Her quick take on the book is that it’s immediately approachable. “The font is easy to read and its spacing between lines….”, she was looking for her next line at this point.
“It won’t scare off potential readers?”, I offered. “Yeah, it doesn’t seem too complicated”, she further stated. When she said that I was momentarily concerned that Be Your Self came across as targeting too young, or a baby book. My erstwhile book reviewer and student clarified things by saying that it looks comforting, like something a middle or high school girl would read for fun.
Boom. That is the nugget of information that I came away with, also. Be Yourself is educational without being preachy. It tells stories that have lessons, without seeming braggadocios. The book is written in a very casual manner but doesn’t feel lightweight. As a current high school teacher, I can see that this book being consumed by any girl group.
The lessons, and I don’t like using that term because a lesson book has connotations of not being fun to read. Be Yourself all but reads itself. Ah, we’ll call them stories. The stories are bite-sized, with some of them being half a page long. The set up to the stories might be a couple of pages long, but its conversational tone is more like you’re ease dropping on a group of teens talking about something that you have a question on.
Be Yourself is loaded with eggs that middle school girls are asking themselves. They might have heard that X or Y will happen, but don’t really think it’ll happen to them. I’ll never feel bad after using my cell phone. I’ve always kept my emotions in check. My friends are true and steady, they’ll always be there for me. Middle and high school are loaded with emotional landmines. The high school kids that read the book have already encountered many of the issues/lessons or stories that Walker illuminates. Those older kids will benefit by reading the book when they need to hear the punch line again, whereas those younger girls will hopefully learn how to deal with them when they meet them for the first time.
Be Yourself and Other Bad Advice: A Teen’s Girl’s Guide to Unlearning the Rules is by Meredith Walker, with a forward by Amy Poehler and is available on Workman Kids, an imprint of Workman Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group.
There are affiliate links in this post.
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube