Her Next Chapter: How Mother-Daughter Book Clubs Can Help Girls Navigate Malicious Media, Risky Relationships, Girl Gossip, and So Much More

by Lori Day MEd, Charlotte Kugler

Overview

Mother-daughter book clubs are a great way to encourage reading, bonding, and socializing among mothers, daughters, and their friends. But these clubs can do more than that, suggests educational psychologist and parenting coach Lori Day. They can create a safe and empowering haven where girls can freely discuss and navigate issues surrounding girlhood. In Her Next Chapter, Day draws from experiences in her own club and her expertise as an educator to offer a timely and inspiring take on mother-daughter book clubs. She provides overviews of eight of the biggest challenges facing girls today, such as negative body image, bullying, gender stereotypes, media sexualization, unhealthy relationships, and more, while weaving in carefully chosen book, movie, and media recommendations; thoughtful discussion questions; and group activities and outings that extend and enrich conversations and make clubs fun. Her Next Chapter outlines how mothers can use the magic of books to build girls’ confidence and sense of possibility as leaders, allies, and agents of change. A list of further resources and reflections and observations from Day’s now-adult daughter, Charlotte, round out this indispensible resource for anyone who cares about, teaches, or works with girls.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613748565
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/01/2014
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Lori Day, M.Ed., is an educational psychologist, a consultant, and a parenting coach with Lori Day Consulting. She has worked in the field of education for more than 25 years and is a contributing blogger at the Huffington Post and several other websites, writing about parenting, education, gender, popular culture, and media. Charlotte Kugler, Day’s daughter, is a student at MountHolyokeCollege.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction xi

Author's Note xix

Part 1 Setting Up Your Club and Keeping It Strong

1 Why Form a Mother-Daughter Book Club? 3

2 Getting Started 14

3 Running Smoothly 32

Part 2 Let's Get the Dialogue Going

4 "What a Pretty Dress!" Helping Girls Transcend Gender Stereotypes and Sexism 45

5 The Sexualization of Girlhood: You Can Bypass It! 70

6 "Mommy, Do You Think I'm Fat?": Teaching Girls to Define Themselves from the Inside Out 94

7 Dealing with the "Mean Girls": How to Talk About Girl-on-Girl Bullying, and How to Raise Women to Be Allies 117

8 Keeping Girls Safe: Encouraging Healthy Relationships and Behavior 139

9 Supporting LGBTQ and Gender-Nonconforming Girls and Women: Encouraging Inclusive Book Clubs and an Inclusive World 166

10 Girls Are Leaders!: Laying the Foundation for Future Adult Female Leadership, One Girl at a Time 189

11 The Welfare of Girls and Women Around the World and Why That Matters to All of Us 217

Conclusion 239

Resources 241

Index 245

Editorial Reviews

"From personal experience, I can tell you that mother-daughter book clubs can help you navigate the daunting challenges of raising confident and mighty girls. This comprehensive guide, rich with discussion ideas and book, film, and media recommendations, will inspire more mothers to start their own book clubs. It's been years since I started a mother-daughter book club for my eldest daughter, and this book made me wish I could start over and do it again with my daughters." —Lesli Rotenberg, General Manager, Children's Media, PBS

"The wisdom and common sense of Lori Day is a much needed point of view for our society. I wish that she had written Her Next Chapter ten years ago, so I would have had her insight when my daughter was four! Mother-Daughter book clubs are such a great step in the right direction!"—Brenda Chapman, Writer/Director, Disney/Pixar's Brave

“Filled with practical advice, inspired reading lists and thoughtful analysis of the challenges girls face, this book is an indispensable guide for anyone who cares about raising girls to be leaders. [. . .] This books also offers a treasure trove of inspiring heroines… representing all the different forms that female leadership can take in our modern world. . . . Role models for girls abound in Lori Day's delightful book.” —June Cohen, Executive Producer of TED Media

“Her Next Chapter is a smart and incisive guide for mothers raising daughters in today's toxic media culture, where hypersexualization and gender stereotypes are the norm. . . . Through Her Next Chapter, Day empowers mothers and daughters to decode and ultimately transcend these destructive media messages, so that girls can grow up armed with confidence. A must read for moms!” —Elena Rossinni, Writer/Producer/Director The Illusionists

"Looking for a wonderful way to bond with your daughter? Look no further than Her Next Chapter. Using mother-daughter book clubs as the backdrop, Her Next Chapter provides tools and strategies for discussing the issues today's girls face, while promoting media literacy and empowerment. What more could you ask for from a book?" —Jennifer L. Hartstein, PsyD, Author, Princess Recovery: A How-to Guide to Raising Strong, Empowered Girls Who Will Create Their Own Happily Ever Afters

“The book does a great job of discussing contemporary issues facing our daughters.” —The Mama Games

“[Day] strike(s) back at pop culture’s vapid values with simple, sage suggestions that any parent can use to flip the message and get the dialogue going in a healthier direction.” —ShapingYouth.org

“This book is so incredibly well done and I can’t recommend it highly enough.” —MotherDaughterBookReviews.com

From the Publisher

08/01/2014
The authors, mother Lori, and daughter Charlotte, collaborate on a very personal account of their five years in a book discussion group of mothers and daughters during the girls' pre-adolescent and early teen years. Full of helpful strategies for running a book group, the authors also include lists of titles along with discussion questions, activities, and media sites. This is much more than than a guide for a mother/daughter book group. The book covers a wide range of issues from self-image to sexual identity to abuse of women, all with accompanying resources and quotes from mental health specialists. The mission of the group profiled is more philosophical than literary: to empower girls through the reading of female-centric literature that addresses difficulties they will face as they grow into women. The writing is candid and conversational. Lori, the group organizer, confides personal issues with the group dynamics, and quickly points out missteps and ways in which the group could have anticipated and headed off problems. Charlotte speaks eloquently of the mother/daughter bonding which results from shared reading and discussion. Of particular concern is the issue of media and marketing influences that marginalize and objectify women. Strategies for encouraging powerful and compassionate behavior are a primary emphasis. An appendix of resources includes other mother/daughter book group guides as well as books on media representation of girls and women. Recommended for parenting collections, as well as professional reading for public and school librarians.—Jackie Gropman, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, VA

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