Restoring Our Girls: How Real Conversations Shape Our Daughters’ Lives, Help Them with Teen Challenges, and Remind Them That They Matter

Certified parenting coach and licensed social worker Adams (sociology and criminology, Dominican Univ.; Zen Parenting) is the creator of Be U, a self-empowerment program for preadolescent girls. Her book, designed for parents to help their teens, especially girls, through daily challenges, shows that teens are overwhelmed by the many profiles they track daily on social media, and they need a respite. Adams’s research indicates that girls face more obstacles than ever, but they communicate these difficulties more freely. Some issues addressed in this book include academic pressure, discrimination, impossible beauty standards, sexual violence, fear of gun violence, and climate change. Adams asserts that real conversations with a parent help girls learn to recognize and share their feelings, manage conflict in a mature and confident manner, ask for help when needed, understand what a healthy relationship looks like (and avoid a harmful one), practice self-awareness and critical thinking skills, and embrace imperfections in themselves and others. Adams observes that many parents stumble during these conversations due to fear, triggers from their pasts, or the need to resolve relational issues with their own parents. Adams has plenty of suggestions for getting over those hurdles.