Yikes! A Smart Girl's Guide To Surviving Tricky, Sticky, Icky Situations

Provides techniques for dealing with embarrassing, emotional, or frightening situations, including forgetting your lines on stage, being threatened by a bully, or losing your parents in a big city.

Grade 4-8-For the most part, the entries in this book hit the mark, with advice about such predicaments as not getting along with one's teacher or being caught doing something wrong. There's the lighthearted (what to do if you fall down stairs in front of people) and also the deadly serious (what to do "if you fall through ice"). Friends figure often, among them those who want to copy homework or who tell others the name of your crush. At times, however, the featured situations will have limited applicability, such as "how not to fall off a horse." And some readers may not be highly interested in how to remove various stains from carpet and clothing. That said, the last advice is a statement of empowerment: "You can stand on your own two feet. You've got a good brain. You've got common sense. Keep them handy. Trust yourself. You'll be able to handle just about anything." That advice alone makes the book worthy of purchase. Colorful cartoon drawings brighten the pages.
Laurie von Mehren, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Girl guidance-and all-out fun-abounds in an array of smart and sassy titles. The first, Yikes! A Smart Girl's Guide to Surviving Tricky, Sticky, Icky Situations from the editors of American Girl, illus. by Bonnie Timmons, provides commonsense solutions to 40 scenarios, including what to do "if you're having your period and get blood on your clothes." In addition to quick-fix ideas, the volume offers preventive measures to avoid the situation next time. The pocket-size paperback's straightforward section headings (e.g., "Quick Thinking" and "Using Logic") tie predicaments together; cartoon-like illustrations add a touch of humor. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.