straight talk for teenage girls by Annette Fuson

Straight Talk for Teenage Girls is information to help teen girls make better choices about life situations so they will grow to adulthood successfully. The information comes from classes taught in school for over 20 years. The book is up-beat, positive and easy to understand. The mission is to help all girls make choices that will lead to a happier life.






“Mistakes are normal. Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes don’t have to pull you down. You can learn from your mistakes. It is never too late to fix a mistake! Mistakes come from making bad or wrong decisions. They come from being with the wrong person or being easily led by them. Mistakes come from not thinking ahead or mostly not thinking…”Is this what’s best for ME?” You have NO control over other people, you only have control over yourself! Your mistakes will affect others too. You’ve learned in “Getting Out of Bad Situations” chapter that you have to learn to cope or take action when it comes to other people. Other people can’t use you without your permission. So you have made a big mistake, let’s learn from it and go on. It is NEVER too late to change, you just have to want to change. Let’s look at some mistakes and what you can do to change or help a friend change: Choosing Wrong Friends, Being Promiscuous, Drugs and Alcohol, Getting Pregnant, Molestation, Self-Injury/Cutting and Controlling/Abusive Boyfriends.”

My Review:
Since I have two teenage daughters I jumped at the chance to review this book. The author writes to teen girls at their level. In the book she discusses with the girls what is expected during the teen years. Each chapter ends with a quiz for the girl to take or some kind of checklist concerning the chapter. Fuson discusses many issues with the teens in the brief girl talk book.

• What to expect in teen years
• building self-esteem
• dealing with problems
• how to handle emotions
• girl friendships
• boy friendships
• bad situations
• opposite sex
• setting goals and dreams
• and more

The closing chapter in this book is a Q & A section dealing with things such as:

• personal/health & Hygiene (this covers things such as pimples, piercings, tattoos, make-up, PMS, eating disorders, hair, etc.)
• boys (questions are opposite sex related)
• parents (questions regarding parents in your life)
• some general questions

I loved the easy to read and appealing for format that this book was layed out in. There was one disappointment I had with her overall handling of issues and that of course was the sex issue. I'm a firm believer that there is to be no sex before marriage. The author doesn't make a case for this. She claims sex is for the more mature wise responsible teen. Even goes on to you'll just know when you are ready to have sex when you are older, wiser and sure of self. there will be no doubts. She recommends practicing safe sex. I'm sorry only safe sex is no sex until married, it's Biblical. That's a whole different thing and don't get me started. this was the only negative I had for this book. Would I recommend this book? For discussing most issues yes, but I'd have to let them know how I feel about the sex issue too. There are good quizzes and thought provoking issues that she brings to light. Fuson has a short test on-line you can take to find out if your boyfriend is right for you. Go to Straight Talk for Teenage Girls.

Read a guest article on Communication ~ Talking with Teens by Annette Fuson here .

Annette Fuson has been a teacher of teenage girls for many years. She has a BS and MA degree in Education and has also taught at the college level. She is married and has a daughter and granddaughter. The book, “Straight Talk for Teenage Girls” is about topics she taught, where she learned that the changes taking place in teen girls’ lives make them confused, afraid and frustrated. The information taught gave them realistic ideas to help them deal with this stage of life. The classes and discussions were lively and positive. The girls wanted ideas, encouragement and sensible answers to what was bothering them. She used this knowledge to write the book when she saw so many girls needed this kind of help. Girls need all the ideas and help they can get from school, parents, church and other adults to make good decisions that can help mold them with a minimum of problems along the way. Annette has a self-help test and case study at each chapter. Girls love these and adults who work with teens use them for discussion. It is in everyone’s interest for all teenage girls grow to be happy and confident adults. To that goal is her mission with the book. She speaks and has taught workshops for teens and parents of teens where she has information sheets and tests on parenting. Annette has a business helping people look and dress their best for themselves and their careers. She gives presentations to businesses. But Annette Fuson’s true purpose it helping teenage girls. She has been chosen Citizen of the Year and Queen of Sales many times. These accomplishments show she is a leader and a “people person” that can make a difference in many lives.

You can visit her website at www.straighttalkforgirls.com.

A copy of this book was provided for review by Virtual Book tours
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