Deal with It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL

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.com Review The birds and bees have never been so hip, thanks to Esther Drill, Heather McDonald, and Rebecca Odes, creators of gURL.com and authors of Deal with It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain and Life as a gURL. As their Web site blossomed in popularity, the gURLs noticed that today's teens have the same questions about sex, love, and growing up that they had as teens. "Hearing what they had to say convinced us that there was a need for a new kind of book about being a girl, one that's smart, funny, approachable, and tuned in to the things girls really want to know." With chapters such as "Boobs," "What's Up Down There," "To Do It or Not to Do It," and "Those Sucky Emotions," the gURLs have got everything covered--with the frankness, humor, and style frustratingly absent from the majority of similarly themed books. All topics are fair game: zit remedies; a dazzling array of hair removal techniques; masturbation methods; sexual positions and orientations; what to do if you are raped; how to deal with anger, depression, and anxiety; the physical effects of different drugs; how to get along with friends and family; and more. In addition to a cooler-than-cool, color-drenched layout and loads of detailed info, Deal with It includes a ton of questions, comments, and personal advice from teenage girls who frequent gURL.com. Reading page after page of these earnest, confused, and curious young voices drives home the need for a book like Deal with It and makes clear that the women of gURL.com have met that challenge with resounding success. (Ages 12 and older) --Brangien Davis Read more From Publishers Weekly Following a recent trend, Web gurus Drill, McDonald and Odes have translated their highly popular Web site, gURL.com, into print, taking a holistic approach to those perennial teen concerns: changing bodies, emotions, desires and lives. In a frank, nonjudgmental tone, they discuss topics and details that more conservative guides might skip: lesbianism and bisexuality receive respectful and thorough treatment that is remarkably well-integrated into the broader discussion of sex in this happily nonphallocentric book; the section on illegal drugs is evenhanded; and the discussion of treatments of eating disorders, other mental illnesses and suicide are honest and informative. Each section ends with a comprehensive list of topical resources: Web sites, hot lines, books and organizations. In addition to the authors' valuable commentary, a good deal of the text is made up of outtakes from girls' online dialogues culled from the site, revealing a thoughtful and supportive cybercommunity able to respond unflinchingly to the many issues covered. Young readers, liberal parents and educators will welcome the authors' openness and lack of boosterism . Full-color illustrations throughout. Agent, Julie Merberg, Roundtable Press, Inc.; 5-city author tour. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more See all Editorial Reviews