I love your work!

Overall, I enjoyed reading Queen Bees & Wannabes. It was fun reading about different situations and how parents should handle them, in order to get the best results. It was also interesting to learn about the troubles girls go through during middleschool. Three highlights from the book that I was able to connect with would be; cliques, gossiping and reputations. First of all, no matter what school or how old, there will always be cliques. After reading about the different roles played within a clique, I looked back on cliques in my life and tried to figure out who played each role. Putting a face to each role helped me to better understand and connect with what they had to gain and lose from playing that role. The section that talked about gossiping I believe, applies in everyone's life. It made me realize how big a role gossiping plays in everyone's life. Most conversations revolve around something we heard about someone and had to share with someone else. When your friends calls and says they have to tell you about so and so, have you told them to stop? I know I haven't. I connect with this because I can't imagine not gossiping to my best friend. Lastly, everyone has a reputation that they don't deserve and can't erase. Rumors spread through gossip and soon the entire school labels you with a reputation you can't shake. It's unfair to believe what you hear through a second hand source, but even if it's true maybe the girl made a mistake. She shouldn't hold this label for the rest of her life. It's easy to connect with this because I believe it happens to everyone and everyone has seen it happen in school. Possibly even watched it destroy a person's life. 

The intended audience for this book is parents (mostly mothers). This includes parents that want to form a relationship with their child, learn what their going child is going through, how to talk to them and how to approach them. The author attempts to persuade and connect with the the audience through the ending. She basically says that I have given you all the tools to handle your daughter and now it's up to you to implement them. If you choose to, it should help your relationship but, there's always a chance your child could need professional help. By saying this, she is trying to persuade you to use her methods first to try and prevent professional help. I would recommend this book to any parent or teen. I think it would diffently help the relationship. For parents, they can learn what their child is going through and how to help them through it. For teens, I personally think it's interesting to read about and it will give you a nested idea how to handle stuff on your own. It may be strange to read a parenting book but once you start it's hard to stop. 

I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me...

"Encourage Michelle to tell Amber how she feels and brainstorm how to respond if Amber tells her she's just being jealous. ("I know you think I'm jealous, but that's not the issue here. The issue is that we agreed we were going to hang out. Good friends don't blow each other off the second a better offer comes along.")"

The punctuation in this passage is a reflection of Rosalind Wiseman's writing style throughout the book. For this particular excerpt, Wiseman wants Michelle to come up with a way to explain her feelings to Amber, to help her understand that she's not jealous. After Wisman states what should be done, she then uses parentheses to give an example of what could possibly be said. Using the parentheses to give examples shows that she is there to help guide parents and children through these types of situations. Therefore, I believe they are very effective for this type of book. 

I love your bracelet

In Queen Bees & Wannabes, Rosalind Wiseman explains the different types of teasing. There's good, unintentional bad and intentional bad teasing. Good teasing is where everyone involved feels respected. Unintentional bad teasing is where the teaser doesn't intend to hurt the other person's feelings. Lastly, Intentional bad teasing is where the teasing is used to put the person down and silence them. 

An event in my life that closely relates to this section in the book is when two of my friends got into a fight about unintentional teasing. Friend A would always invite Friend B to hangout but each time she would decline. Friend A confronted Friend B about never wanting to hangout. Friend B said that every time they hangout she always in ends up getting made fun of and it hurts her feelings. Friend A then apologize and said next time to speak up sooner because she had know idea it hurt her feelings since she was always laughing along. Friend B excepted the apology but said she no longer wants to be friends. 

The book and my event are linked together because they are both about unintentional teasing. The book explains how to know if you are unintentionally being teased and what to do about it. My event shows a scenario and  a possible outcome after confrontation.  

I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom

"Some parents believe they have the magic power to look their daughter in the eye and the truth will come spilling out. Maybe. If you're really good, your daughter may crumble under the stern, unflinching parental lie detector. But a good liar can pass this test easily. A good liar is cool and collected and continues to hold her ground no matter what." 

This quote from Queen Bees & Wannabes follows a template given in They say, I say. It falls under a template for making concessions while still standing your ground. This template is used when there are other arguments but you believe that yours is the best solution.  Rosalind Wiseman acknowledges that some daughters will tell the truth but usually they can easily get away with lying. By making this claim, Wiseman is trying to persuade the reader that her argument is correct and should be followed in this type of situation. 

They wanted me to get socialized

"Imagine you and your daughter on a cruise ship. The cruise director's job is to make sure your daughter is reasonably happy and entertained. There are scheduled activities and if she hurts herself, someone will be there to get her back on her feet. She knows most of the people on the ship and everything is familiar... As you watch helplessly, she leaves behind everything that is safe and secure, gets into a life raft with people who have little in common with her except their age, and drifts away." This quote is a metaphor. A metaphor compares to things by stating one is the other. 

This quote serves as a metaphor because the cruise ship is the safe and comforting house while the life raft is school and life outside the house. It shows how girls feel trapped inside the life raft on open waters. If you are not a certain way, you will be thrown out into the water. The only logical answer is to stay inside the raft and hope things get better between the other girls or you survive until rescued. To girls, this is the exact way they feel about their clique. Thus, serving as the prefect metaphor.  

That is so fetch!

Rosalind Wiseman has been researching teenage girls for over ten years. After funding the Empower program, she published Queen Bees & Wannabes to help share her findings in a helpful manor. The first chapter explains the different roles that girls play in high school. The second describes different parenting styles and possible ways to handle your daughter.

Wiseman starts by listing the different roles that appear in cliques throughout all high schools. She then analyzes them in closer detail to help readers have a better understanding. Each role has something you can gain and lose from it. Wiseman gives helpful tips to parents and includes daughter's point of views in order to help the reader comprehend. This chapter also asked girls to describe what characteristics and appearance everyone wished they had and which no wants to have. Almost every girl gives the same answer. This is used to define who is popular and who is not, through teenage eyes. In the end, the roles are placed into categories that explain their outlook on life and how a wrong-worded intervention can cause a harsh reaction.

The second chapter is a way to guide parents through a conversation with their daughter. It starts with discovering what parenting style you possess. Each is stated and given a description. It's helpful to own up to your parenting style and become the best role model you can be. The next step is to begin the conversation with tips mentioned in the book. After this listening is all that's left, because once you show that you want to become more involved, they'll begin to open up.

The next part of chapter two, transitions to being lied to and how to handle it. If you think your daughter is lying to you, Wiseman offers multiple suggestions on how to approach the problem. The book also walks you through when you should confront them, how to start the conversation and what punishments have the best results. When confronting you shouldn't use slang words or try to act cool, it's best to stick with the information you've gathered. Wiseman encourages parents to take things seriously and help their children to do the same. Lastly, the chapter ends with reassuring comments. Meaning that that the only failure is someone who doesn't put in the time and effort. Also that parenting isn't a popularity constant, but instead teaches  your children valuable lessons.

On Wednesday's we wear pink

I picked to read Queen Bees & Wannabes for a couple different reasons. My choice was influenced by length, subject matter and a movie based on it. The book looked like an easy read and didn't seem to be overwhelming or boring. The length of the chapters isn't that bad so it's more enjoyable to read. The subject matter has to do with high school cliques which I find can be pretty interesting. It's fun learning about the different roles everyone plays in their group of friends or school. This book also happens to be the basis for the movie Mean Girls which is one of my favorite movies. 

The author, Rosalind Wiseman is the cofounder and president of the Empower program, an organization that works to empower girls and boys to stop violence. She has spent the last 10 years learning and teaching girls about abusive relationships. Wiseman travels to different schools to help spread the word of the knowledge she has accumulated over the years, In hopes it will help not only young girls but also help their mothers deal with them. I believe her credentials give her the ability to write a powerful influential book.