In the confusing whirl of messages coming at girls and their parents, Jeannie Norris’s voice rings clear and true. Norris is a practical visionary who helps parents realize their hopes of raising strong girls and catalyzes girls’ dreams of living powerful lives. In an age where parents often struggle to find a balance between being too permissive or over protective, Norris shows how to nurture girls’ critically important capacity for self-reliance as they make the transition into young adulthood. Beautifully written and informed by the latest research on girls’ development, this book is the steady, reassuring, smart companion that parents need beside them as their daughters stretch toward womanhood.
Elizabeth Debold, Ed.D., bestselling author of Mother Daughter Revolution: From Good Girls to Great Women
I am a fan of Jeannie Norris as an outstanding leader in education for adolescent girls. She is wise and writes well. Her essays offer practical guidance and inspiration for parents, teachers and counselors. Most of all, I appreciate Norris’s good-humored understated challenges and support for parents. Our current ‘child-centered’ style of parenting has shown itself to be wrong-headed in both subtle and obvious ways as our children grow up unprepared for the responsibilities of adult life. Norris’s wise counsel is an excellent corrective. I highly recommend her work to anyone involved with the development of adolescent girls.
Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., author of The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance
Jeannie Norris challenges our assumptions about educating girls. In crisp, incisive prose, and often drawing on insights from her own adolescence, Norris cuts through the mindless chatter of today’s culture to celebrate the wonderfully complex process of becoming an authentic young woman. She shows us that growth is about choices, that our role as parents is to encourage our daughters to believe they can make their own choices – and that with love and support, they usually make the right ones.
David Cudaback, editor and father of an authentic and confident young woman
Jeannie Norris’s voice in Parenting Great Girls: Giving Our Daughters the Courage to Live Authentic and Fulfilling Lives reflects her amazing ability to communicate across generations. She understands girls today and can speak to parents and teachers with a voice that reflects her deep appreciation of the joys and challenges of working with adolescent girls. Through her writing she illustrates the great potential that is untapped in girls and points out where and how that potential gets sidetracked and undermined. Most importantly she teaches us the skills necessary to work successfully with today’s adolescents. This is a hopeful, optimistic, and instructive volume and should be essential reading for anyone who is raising a daughter.
Christine Shelton, Professor, Smith College, Co-Director, Project on Women and Social Change