teens

Six books Rebecca Sparrow recommends for parents of teen girls.

Being a parent can be testing at any stage, but there is something emotionally supercharged about being the mum of a teenage girl.

When things are good, they are very very good and when things are bad they are… sorry, horrid doesn’t even cut it.

Talking to friends who have teen girls or had teen girls can help you feel less alone, and will maybe even give you some handy survival hints. Then there’s locking yourself in your own room to recharge. It’s great until you realise your daughter has borrowed your favourite shirt.

In her books Ask Me AnythingFind your Feet and Find your Tribe, writer, columnist and “champion of teenage girls everywhere”, Rebecca Sparrow, gives girls warm and wise answers to their most asked and most honest questions.

This week on her Facebook page, Rebecca gave her pick of the top six books for parents of girls.

Here they are:

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide — Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

These two Pulitzer prize winning journalists use their skill to tell the stories of oppressed women and girls in the developing world and uncover the struggles, hardships and hope.

Queen Bees and Wannabes — Rosalind Wiseman.

This book has almost become a classic. It’s about cliques, girl friendships, best friends, boyfriends and how teen girls navigate relationships with their parents.

Listen: Where do you stand on teenagers drinking? (Post continues after audio.)

Being 14 — Madonna King.

Award winning Australian journalist King interviews 200 14-year-old girls, as well as leading psychologists, educators, police and CEOs, to discover the very particular challenges 14-year-old girls are facing today.

Just Between Us — a mother daughter journal.

With thoughtful writing prompts such as, “What did your mum think the moment you were born?” and “Where would your daughter go if she could go anywhere in the universe?”, this book lets mums and daughters come together, write, reflect, imagine and discover.

Books

Embrace — Taryn Brumfitt.

The perfect book about body confidence. As Brumfitt says: "This is the book for every woman who hates the way her body looks, and derides herself for not having the perfect figure."

Girls and Sex — Peggy Orenstein.

Award winning author Orenstein delivers a searingly honest picture of the new sexual landscape girls face and examines how they are handling - or not handling - this post-porn, social media, 24/7 everything world.