Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls

Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com

What is a Supergirl?

They're the high school class president with the constantly shiny hair who applied to over twenty Ivy League schools and always brings homemade goods to every bake sale. They're the college girl involved in a million clubs who shows up five minutes before the 8 a.m. class with no signs of her late night out, followed by many more hours of studying. They're the gotta-have-it-all twenty-something who busted her butt in college and is already on the same level as women ten years older in her field.

They're any girl who has packed her schedule, keeping herself busy with volunteer activities, who always manages to look perfect, regardless of how tired, stressed, or anxious she feels.

This is the plight of the Supergirls, the slew of young women who have decided that nothing short of perfection will do. By following the stories of five overachievers from different walks of life, and interviewing almost a hundred more, this book examines the lives of these girls to find out why they feel this need for perfection, and what they can possibly do to avoid the eventual burnout.

This book disappointed me by placing most of the blame on faceless entities such as "societal conditioning," rather than offering more concrete advice to young women who may be stuck in this harmful cycle of achievement and compliment addiction. Regardless, the stories in this book were an interesting foray into the psyche of a population that is often stereotyped and ignored, for the simple reason that "they have it all; how can anything be wrong in their lives?"

...

It is good. But I think she gets really negative. Not every "supergirl" is unhappy. But, despite of that opinion, it is a leading story. What I mean is, she definitely gets the point across in a fun way. She goes around interviewing people and clarifying what some people's lives really are like. I feel bad for those girls, but it also teaches people a lesson.
I personally think this is for the girls who are "in trouble." Who are not happy and have major disorders: eating problems, depression, etc.
My mom actually picked this out for me because apparently she thinks I am a "supergirl." I rested my case that I'm not the worst there is out there. I just cram my social calender and everything else. But, I finally could explain to my mom that I'm not "in trouble."
This book got across to me that, if your not happy then stop and smell the roses. I'm still not finished with it yet because it isn't really a "page turner." She has a really good writing technique though. I'm 15 and I read this, so it is an easy read. I would just recommend it to someone who wants to figure out if they are in trouble or even not happy. I really like it though.

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