A Girl's Guide to Life

A Thought Catalog Book

A Girl's Guide to Life is a timeless book of warm and sensible advice for young girls, originally written by a mother for her own eight-year-old daughter. From compassion and empathy through self-expression and creativity, from thoughtfulness and helpfulness and good deeds through gratitude and heartfelt apology, from the incomparable joys of friendship to the importance of learning how and when to say no, this little book offers wise counsel that will be of use for many years to come.

"A Girl's Guide to Life is exactly that -- a delightful guide filled with wisdom and warmth for all ages. It's about saying yes and saying no and everything in between, giving respect and expecting it too. Practical proverbs in a fun-to-read package."    -Dandi Daley Mackall

"Sensible, subtle, loving advice tells girls how to be brave and happy and to do right -- and that life is complicated. I'm rushing A Girl's Guide to my youngest granddaughter."      -Lore Segal

"Herman's book may help to ease readers into their teenage years, at a time when they want to be both independent and nurtured... A sweet book of advice for young girls.'
-Kirkus Reviews

Michelle Herman, the director of the creative writing program at Ohio State University, is a novelist and essayist whose most recent book, Stories We Tell Ourselves, was longlisted for the 2014 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Her other books include The Middle of Everything: Memoirs of Motherhood, the novels Missing and Dog, the collection of novellas, A New and Glorious Life, and Like A Song, a new essay collection about singing, friendship, home, and family, to be published in 2015.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she has lived for many years in Columbus, Ohio, where she and her husband, the artist Glen Holland, raised their daughter Grace, who is now all grown up.