Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul: Real Stories by Real Girls About Real Stuff

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen

Overview

From Barbies to your first bra, from holding your teddy bear to slowdancing with your first boyfriend, from knowing everyone in elementary school to trying to make new friends in middle school. . . . When dealing with these changes, it's no wonder preteen girls can freak out from time to time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781453276235
Publisher:	Chicken Soup for the Soul
Publication date:	08/07/2012
Series:	Chicken Soup for the Soul Series
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	350
Sales rank:	704,207
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jack Canfield is cocreator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor of The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a leader in the field of personal transformation and peak performance and is currently CEO of the Canfield Training Group and Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Foundation for Self-Esteem. An internationally renowned corporate trainer and keynote speaker, he lives in Santa Barbara, California.
 Mark Victor Hansen is a co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Hometown:

Santa Barbara, California

Date of Birth:

August 19, 1944

Place of Birth:

Fort Worth, Texas

Education:

B.A. in History, Harvard University, 1966; M.A.T. Program, University of Chicago, 1968; M.Ed., U. of Massachusetts, 1973

Website:

http://www.jackcanfield.com

Read an Excerpt

"One Day You'll Look Back on This . . ."

I've learned to take time for myself and to treat
myself with a great deal of love and respect
'cause I like me. . . . I think I'm kind of cool.

-
Whoopi Goldberg

"I can't go to school like this!" I wailed as I stared into
my mirror, hating my face, my body and life in general. A
river of salty tears traced a path down my cheeks.
Summoned from the kitchen by my shrieking, my mother
appeared at my side a second later.

"What's the problem?" she asked patiently.

"Everything . . . just everything!" I complained and continued
to stare horrified into the mirror.

At almost thirteen, the problems that I felt I had were
overwhelming. I had a hideous new crop of angry, red
pimples that had erupted on my forehead and chin
overnight—every night. My hair suddenly looked greasy
all the time, even though I washed it every second day. My
aching tummy signaled that my newfound "friend" was
about to visit once again, causing my jeans to fit too snugly
and make me appear as though I had been eating nothing
but hot fudge sundaes. And to top it off, my chewed-up
fingernails were torn and bloody, since biting them
seemed to go along with the way I worried about how other
people perceived me. But everything that was bothering
me wasn't just on the surface—I also had a broken heart.

The guy I had been going out with had recently dumped
me in favor of an older, more developed girl. Everything
combined, I was a physical and emotional wreck.

"Come on, now, Honey. Try not to cry," my mother said
with a smile. "I remember what it was like to be your age.
It was awkward and frustrating, and I got my heart
stomped on, too, but I came through it—and so will you!
It's not as bad as you think, and once you get to school
with all your friends, you'll forget all about your pimples
and what's-his-name, and one day you'll look back on this
and wonder why you were ever so upset."

Convinced that she didn't know what she was talking
about, I gave her a dirty look and headed off for school,
greeting my girlfriends on the sidewalk while my mother
waved encouragingly from the front door. Later, as much
as I hated to admit it, I found out that my mother was
right. As I spent time with my friends who were going
through the same things that I was, my mind wasn't on
my troubles anymore, and soon I was laughing.

When I returned home later that day, I was in a much
better mood and because I had put my best foot forward,
my mother rewarded me with a bag of goodies she had
purchased from the drugstore. On my bed was a bag that
included shampoo and conditioner, some acne medication,
a gift certificate to a hair salon and, surprisingly,
some hot, new shades of nail polish.

"What on earth is this?" I asked bewildered, thinking
that my mother had to be out of her mind if she thought
I was going to flaunt my gnarled nails.

As it turned out, she had a plan. I thought that it was
cruel at the time, yet it turned out to be highly effective. I
wasn't allowed to have any of the stuff in the bag, nor was
I allowed to keep my ever-so-important stick of concealer.
The deal was that for each week that I didn't bite my
fingernails, one item of my choice would be returned to
me. Desperate to retrieve my makeup and to get my
hands on everything in the drugstore bag, I concentrated
heavily on my schoolwork, instead of biting my nails and
worrying about what people thought of me. Over the
next few weeks, I was thrilled to watch my nails grow. By
the time I earned the certificate to have my hair cut and
restyled, my nails were so long that my mother also
treated me to a manicure while we were at the salon. And
as time wore on, I began to see that I was getting through
the rough spot, just as she had promised I would.
I liked that I received so many compliments on my
hands and hair, but more than that, I was proud of myself
for sticking with the deal and improving myself in the
process—so proud, as a matter of fact, that I failed to notice
my acne slowly clearing up. And I couldn't have cared less
about what's-his-name. He quickly became a distant memory
as I began to date many different boys, some of whom
broke my heart and others whose hearts I broke.

Though it certainly wasn't my last acne outbreak, bad
hair day or crushed spirit, I did learn something. I will
hold with me forever my mother's words of wisdom:
"One day you'll look back on this and wonder why you
were ever so upset."

Years later, after several ups and downs in my life, I look
back and realize that I did come through it all and I am the
better for it. I only hope that if one day I have a daughter
who is experiencing the struggles of adolescence, I will be
as understanding, helpful and creative as my mother was
with me.

-Laurie Lonsdale

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction xiii

1 Straight Up Girl Stuff

A Perfect Fit Kathy Lynn Harris 2

Not Just for Girls Anymore! Diane Sonntag 9

The Bust Developer Mary Laufer 11

"One Day You'll Look Back on This ..." Laurie Lonsdale 15

The Day I Gave My Panties Away Katherine Anne Magee 18

Unidentified Floating Object Sandra Wallace 22

Girl to Girl Multiple Authors 26

Do Girls Belong? Angelica Haggert 34

2 I've Got the Power

Big Things Dallas Nicole Woodburn 38

Call Me Cynthia M. Hamond 42

The Slam Book Barbara J. Ragsdale 47

Compassion for a Bully Melanie Pastor 50

The Most Important Lesson Hope Rollins 54

Lost and Found Dream Kathryn Lay 58

A Cheer of Triumph Kim Rogers 61

3 Friendship and Bffs

Soul Sisters Kayla K. Kurashige 66

The Five Flavors Roxanne Gowharrizi 71

My Friend Anna Vier 74

Forget Him Sarah Hood 78

Do You Remember When? Mina Radman 81

One Is Silver and the Other Is Gold Karen Waldman 83

A Friend's Secret Bethany Rogers 89

A Valentine to My Friends Rachel Punches 94

4 Family Matters

The Day Our Dad Came Home Pamela D. Hamalainen 99

God on Her Side Ashleigh Figler-Ehrlich 103

Miracle Babies Stephanie Marquez 109

The Perfect Brother Kacy Gilbert-Gard 113

One Single Egg Cheryl L. Goede 117

Raining Memories Kirsten Lee Strough 121

Sarah's Story Sarah Crunican 125

Home Cynthia Charlton 129

5 Sister Sister

Ready or Not Morri Spang 135

Jackie's Little Sister Lauren Alyson Schara 140

Big Sister Olga Cossi 142

If Only Rita M. Tubbs 146

The Wild Hair Ariel G. Subrahmanyam 150

The Gift of Faith Nydja K. Minor 152

Best Friend Bethany Gail Hicks 156

6 Tough Stuff

For Michelle Satya Pennington 162

The Day My Life Ended Sammie Luther 166

Cancer, the Only Word I Can't Say Sammi Lupher 169

It's Never Your Fault Hattie Frost 172

BFF Courtney VanDyne 176

Hero Brittany Shope 180

Behind the Bathroom Door Katy Van Hoy 185

Sleep-Away Camp Kellyrose Andrews 189

7 The Pressure's On

So Which Will It Be? Us-or Her? Anne Broyles 194

Danny's Courage Penny S. Harmon 198

You Are Never Too Young to Take a Stand Maudie Conrad 201

Trying to Handle It Marcela Dario Fuentes 204

The Party That Lasted a Lifetime Leigh Hughes 208

Suffocating Marion Distante 215

To Have a Boyfriend-or Not? Patty Hansen 217

Easy as 1, 2,...3 Emily A. Malloy 223

Intimidation Carrie Joy Carson 226

8 Crushin' Hard

My Story Melanie Marks 232

A "Bite" of All Right! Paula Goldsmith 237

Never Should Have Kristen Weil 240

My First Kiss Khristine J. Quibilan 245

Secret Crush Karin A. Lovold 247

The Truth Anna Bittner 251

Learning How to Move On Elizabeth White 253

Nineteen Kathleen Benefiel 256

9 Changes, Changes and More Changes

Late Bloomer Julie Workman 260

ARB Alison Gunn 265

Headgear Stephanie Dodson 269

Did She Say "Ovary"? Tasha R. Howe 273

Hair Horror Michelle Peters 279

Strapped for Cash Robin Sokol 283

I Learned the Truth at Thirteen Carol Ayer 288

10 Free To Be Me

The Shy Girl Laura Andrade 292

Never Cool Enough Natalie Ver Woert 298

Parting Ways Christina Shaw 303

Sweet Lies Laura Gene Beck 305

Okay to Be Me Monica Marie Jones 310

Ugly Girl Morri Spang 314

Afterword Rachel Punches 320

Who Is Jack Canfield? 323

Who Is Mark Victor Hansen? 324

Who Is Patty Hansen? 325

Who Is Irene Dunlap? 326

What Is Discovery Girls Magazine? 327

Contributors 329

Permissions 339