Mean Girls: Facing Your Beauty Turned Beast

by Hayley DiMarco

Overview

Why is it so tough to be a girl? Whether it's at school, in the mall, or even online, girls are mean to each other. Most girls will admit that they have been a victim of a mean girl. In fact, many will say that all girls are basically mean. Whether they're teasing a girl because of how she looks, making up rumors to torment others, or launching an online campaign to destroy their target, girls can be just plain ruthless.
This one-of-a-kind book has helped end the cycle of meanness for tens of thousands of girls. Mean Girls is a call to spiritual strength. A call to stand firm. It calls girls to face the beasts in their lives head on. In short, it's the answer girls need for the problem they never thought could go away. This completely revised edition of Mean Girls will reach junior highers and high schoolers where they are with the help and advice they crave. It has been redesigned inside and out to match the award-winning look of DiMarco's other popular books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585581276
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Hayley DiMarco is chief creative officer and founder of Hungry Planet, where she writes and creates cutting-edge books that connect with the multitasking mind-set. She has written and co-written numerous bestselling books for both teens and adults, including Dateable, Mean Girls, Sexy Girls, and Technical Virgin. She and her husband, Michael, live in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hayley DiMarco is the founder of Hungry Planet, where she writes and creates cutting-edge books that connect with the multitasking mind-set. She has written and cowritten numerous bestselling books for both teens and adults, including Dateable, Mean Girls, Sexy Girls, B4UD8, God Girl, and the God Girl Bible. Hayley lives with her husband and daughter in Tennessee.

Table of Contents

	My Story: Hayley's own Mean Girl story. Find out how she made it through	7
	The Beast: What's this book all about?	12
	Why This Book Works: What you need to know to get started	13
	Quiz: Do you have a Mean Girl problem?	14
	The Mean Girl
	Mean for Fun: This Mean Girl's the worst. Look out for her	18
	Mean for a Reason: Do some girls deserve what they get?	19
	Degrees of Mean: Get the scoop on gossip, name-calling, 3-way calls, and getting revenge	21
	"You're So Skinny!" and Other Insults: The slam hidden inside the compliment--only a girl could come up with it	36
	Why Is the Mean Girl in Your Life? She might be there for a reason. Find out	42
	Mean Girl behind Bars: A Mean Girl on death row will make you think twice	50
	Are You Doing Something Wrong? Why is she so dang mean? Could it be you?	53
	Why Does She Hate You? Sometimes it's more obvious than you think	55
	Why Are You So Easy to Hate? What makes you an easy target?	75
	You and Your Mean Girl
	The Mean Girl Cycle: Find out how to stop the cycle and stop the mean	80
	Getting Even Is Getting Mean: Why does getting her back make you mean?	86
	Why Does It Feel Good to Be Mean? There's something fun about being mean, but what is it?	91
	Changing a Mean Girl: What can you do to fix her?	93
	So Offended: Find out when you have a right to be offended--and when you don't	96
	Get Over Yourself: God commands it. What does it mean? How can you do it?	99
	Hannah Sees the Truth: This sister knows the secret to selflessness	105
	Standing Up to the Mean Girl: Feel like a doormat for every Mean Girl in your life? Learn how and when to stand up	108
	God's Plan for Your Mean Girl: Love a Mean Girl? A crazy idea ... but what if there were a way?	115
	Jesus on Mean Girls: Jesus has something to say, and we've got the scoop	120
	Boys and Your Mean Girl: She stole your boyfriend. What do you do now?	128
	Choosing Beauty Over the Beast
	The Girl Grown Up
	The Girl Grown Up (G.G.U.): How to start the mean-free revolution	134
	Mind Control: The mind is a powerful thing	138
	Mean = Murder: What's the truth about mean?	139
	Environmental Quiz: Is there a waste dump in your mind?	143
	Saving the Spiritual Environment: Get the garbage out and breathe free	145
	Mean Friends
	Quiz: Is Your Friend a Mean Girl? Mean Girls aren't always your enemies	148
	10 Clues Your Friend Is Bad News: Should you dump your Mean Girl friend? How mean is she?	149
	How to Handle Your Mean Friends: What to do if your friends are mean to you	151
	Girls as Friends: Why is it easier to be friends with guys?	165
	School of the Unmean
	The Big Picture: Your school can become unmean	170
	The Battle Isn't against Flesh and Blood: What if you weren't fighting a girl at all?	174
	Pray the Mean Out: If you want to win this battle, find power in numbers	181
	Leave No Mean Girl Behind: Start the chain. Let's leave no Mean Girl behind!	185
	Ammo for the Battle
	The Girls Grown Up Contract: Make your commitment to being anti-mean forever	188
	The Sword of the Spirit: Verses for fighting off fighting	190
	Voices of the Past: Been there, lived that. What do wise people of the past have to say about your Mean Girl?	201
	Choosing Christ: Make it official and trust God with the rest of your life	204

Editorial Reviews

Echoing the recent movie by the same name, this book is touted as a Christian self-help guide for young girls who are victimized by female bullies. Books that are marketed to Christian teens have gotten quite savvy about using teen language, bright covers, and creative layout to broaden their appeal. To that end, the author uses a confidential "big sister" voice, replete with teen idioms, that comes straight from the pages of teen magazines. The layout of the book is eye-catching, with a style reminiscent of a school notebook, complete with text highlighting. But the content of the book veers between practical suggestions on helping teens cope with bullying and an overly repetitive, heavy-handed proselytizing that ends up dominating the text. Even worse, the book is riddled with the worst gender stereotyping. Girls are told that they are vengeful by nature and gossipy and that boys are not "emotional." Yet this book is not a total loss. Perhaps the most eloquent moment in the book is the author's painful account of her own experiences at the hands of "mean girls." Although there are some useful and clever strategies here for teen girls trying to cope with bullies, the main thrust of this book is devoted to the promotion of conservative Christian beliefs. With stricter editing and less evangelizing, this book would have wider appeal, but as it presents the viewpoint of only one particular Christian ideology, it would have little interest or usefulness to Christian teens outside this narrow focus. With that in mind, this book is not a recommended purchase for some public libraries. VOYA CODES: 2Q 2P M J (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with aspecial interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2004, Baker Books, 204p.; Illus., Trade pb. Ages 11 to 15.
—Jan Chapman

VOYA