The issues facing young women today are vast and overwhelming. Many decisions made in adolescence have lifelong consequences, and many patterns developed when young are difficult to break. As teenage girls confront daily life issues, guidance and support can lead to paths of positivity and empowerment. This comprehensive guide for teenage girls specializes in helping young women by offering advice on a wide range of topics. Using anecdotes, personal experience, and hard-won wisdom, this guide aims to be the voice of hope and help on the challenging journey to womanhood. Reynolds serves as a stand-in older sister, aunt, or mother figure determined to lead teenage girls on a path of discovery and personal fulfillment. The topics cover some of the following: hygiene, grooming, body issues, relationships with others and with the self, finances, problem-solving, and effective communication. Some chapters are about shifting one’s mindset, while others are about developing skills. Every chapter includes questions and prompts for self-reflection.

With candid, inviting prose, Reynolds shows that she knows how to talk to young people. Her experience as a youth counselor is on display as she identifies relevant issues in the lives of teenage girls, and she writes candidly about their impact and wisely about their solutions. A blend of personal stories and advice, this book will inspire teenage girls to consider their actions, listen to their inner voices, and build meaningful relationships. Reynolds tackles serious and relevant topics about abusive boyfriends, sexual pressure, eating disorders, and suicide. She is a voice in the darkness of these black holes that threaten to consume young lives.

Today’s headlines are rife with concern for young people and the impact of pandemic stress and upheaval on their young lives. These difficulties are only compounded by the rise of technology and the relentless grip of social media. In the midst of this crisis, the demand for mentors is high, for people to pass down the knowledge they have gained through experience to young people lost in the wilderness of girlhood. Reynolds is willing to fill this role with her essential wisdom, which she communicates with clarity and authenticity. She is a voice of reason and responsibility, conservative values and practical responses, motivation and inspiration.

The teenage years are full of new experiences, wild expectations, and daily challenges, but these years are also rich with possibility, healthy experimentation, and found destinies. This guide can help girls “purposefully make positive decisions about some very important things,” especially with the knowledge that so many decisions made in the teen years have a lasting impact on adulthood. Reynolds hopes to forestall the suffering that can come from mistakes made in youthful angst and naivete. Readers will feel less alone with this guide and perhaps even seen in all their incandescent teenage glory as Reynolds recognizes the developmental power of these formative years.

Reynolds understands that there are many voices and perspectives available to teen girls, but she hopes that readers will see her book as a tool that will get teenagers thinking about their lives and becoming active participants in the outcomes of their choices. She wants them to be empowered to create the best lives possible through intentional living and loving, a sentiment that comes across loud and clear in this book.

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