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Summary
Summary
Mayim Bialik, Jeopardy! host and star of The Big Bang Theory , puts her Ph.D. to work as she talks to teens about the science of growing up and getting ahead. A must-have book for all teenage girls.
Growing up as a girl in today's world is no easy task. Juggling family, friends, romantic relationships, social interests and school...sometimes it feels like you might need to be a superhero to get through it all! But really, all you need is little information.
Want to know why your stomach does a flip-flop when you run into your crush in the hallway? Or how the food you put in your body now will affect you in the future? What about the best ways to stop freaking out about your next math test?
Using scientific facts, personal anecdotes, and wisdom gained from the world around us, Mayim Bialik, the star of The Big Bang Theory , shares what she has learned from her life and her many years studying neuroscience to tell you how you grow from a girl to a woman biologically, psychologically and sociologically.
And as an added bonus, Girling Up is chock-full of charts, graphs and illustrations -- all designed in a soft gray to set them apart from the main text and make them easy to find and read.
Want to be strong? Want to be smart? Want to be spectacular? You can! Start by reading this book.
Praise for Girling Up -
"Bialik is encouraging without being preachy . . . many teens will be drawn to this engaging and useful book." -- Booklist
"Ultimately, the author stresses that 'Girling Up' does not end with adulthood-it is a lifelong journey. Thanks to Bialik, readers have a road map to make this trip memorable." -- School Library Journal
"Written in conversational style . . . the tone remains understanding, supportive, and respectful of the reader's individuality throughout the text." -- VOYA
Author Notes
Mayim Bialik is an actress and writer, who founded GrokNation.com in 2015 as a platform for sharing her writing on everything.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Combining her personal experiences and academic credentials, Bialik-television star, mother of two, and neuroscientist-tackles six aspects of what she calls "girling up," "the transition from girl to young woman." When discussing widely covered topics that include body and image, the importance of a balanced diet, exercise, and growth, Bialik adds a few novelties-for example, yoga poses that relieve menstrual cramps and the introduction of mindfulness to eating and stress management. The chapters "How We Love," "How We Cope," and "How We Matter" provide greater value; they are direct, comprehensive, and emphasize the importance of taking responsibility and making choices based on knowledge and self-awareness. Unfortunately, good points are too often buried within a paragraph, and Bialik's understanding of how the brain works is underused. The book is careful to avoid judgment, conversational in tone, and filled with common sense advice, but Bialik at times harks back to her own era rather than fully addressing issues-especially pressing concerns such as sexting and cyberbullying-raised by the explosion of digital technology. Ages 12-up. Agent: Anthony Mattero, Foundry Literary + Media. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Bialik gives an appealing account of how a girl transforms into a young woman from a biological perspective. She may play a neurobiologist on television's The Big Bang Theory, but Bialik also has a PhD in neuroscience in real life, which lends credence and authenticity to her book. Using scientific evidence, she explains how girls' bodies grow, notes how they spend their time, gives dating and socializing advice, offers tips on how to cope with the hard stuff (like stress), and discusses how to make a difference in a significant way. Through her honest and open personal anecdotes (she states that she herself was a late bloomer), she reassures girls that they are all unique and shouldn't try to be anything but themselves. Refreshingly, the occasional black-and-white illustrations portray female body types of a more average size. Bialik is encouraging without being preachy, although at times seems a bit old-fashioned in her outlook. Still, many teens will be drawn to this engaging and useful book.--Rawlins, Sharon Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-According to the author, the transition from girlhood to womanhood (which she dubs "Girling Up") is full of excitement and cause for celebration. However, along the way there are challenges, and what girls today need is reassurance. Bialik, who plays Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on the television show The Big Bang Theory and in real life holds a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of California, provides readers with just that in this refreshing guide to female development. Topics addressed include puberty, education, romance, and goal setting. The author emphasizes the importance of girls taking charge and being comfortable with their bodies. She offers examples of how readers should deal with various issues, such as focusing in school, in a conversational manner. Peppered throughout are cartoon line drawings of girls hanging out together, demonstrating yoga poses to relieve menstrual cramps, and more. Though cute, these illustrations are often underwhelming. Ultimately, the author stresses that "Girling Up" does not end with adulthood-it is a lifelong journey. Thanks to Bialik, readers have a road map to make this trip memorable. VERDICT Consider for large memoir and self-help collections.-Jeanette Lambert, formerly at Nashville-Davidson County Schools, TN © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The Blossom and Big Bang Theory star and neuroscientist covers the basics of what it means to be an adolescent girl. Readers learn how the body looks and works during puberty, with detailed illustrations of different breast sizes/types and diagrams of male and female genitalia. Also covered are the benefits of healthy food choices and finding ways to cope with stress. Many chapters offer diagrams that attempt to show how the brain and body affect learning, hormonal changes, and stress levels, along with illustrations featuring diverse body types, yoga poses for cramps, and other spot images. There are also anecdotal insights aplenty from Bialik, who left her childhood acting career to pursue neuroscience before returning to acting, along with guided self-reflections and a smattering of helpful resources. The fact is, however, there's little information in this book that most young adolescents don't already have instant access to on the internet. The overall attitude is cis- and heterocentric. Although Bialik briefly mentions gender presentation and fluidity, the reaffirming messages she doles out mostly cater to boy-girl relationships and gender-conforming teens, as seen in her sections on dating and practicing safe sex. Though many illustrations depict darker-skinned teens, the text avoids discussion of issues of race and diversity. These elisions let her audience down. A missed opportunity for Blossom to connect with the millennial generation. (Nonfiction. 12-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
As girls and as women, we are made up of so many different things. We are our DNA, and we are the hormones that course through us. We are the vitamins and minerals we eat, and we are the fears and concerns we have about what we eat. We are the insecurities we have about not looking right and the thing we do to try to feel right. We are the books we read and the ones we don't want to read, too. We are the love we feel when we hug our best friend, and we are the tears we cry when someone we love won't love us back. We are grief and sadness, and we are the things we do to try and make sense of a difficult world. We are the actions we take to change the things we see that are unjust, and we are as many possibilities as there are stars in the sky. We are bodies that work, brains that learn, hearts that love, souls that struggle and women who matter. We are strong, smart and spectacular. We don't have to be superheroes to be all of the things we want to be. We just have to be us. Excerpted from Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular by Mayim Bialik All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Chapter 1 How Our Bodies Work | p. 5 |
| Chapter 2 How We Grow | p. 33 |
| Chapter 3 How We Learn | p. 61 |
| Chapter 4 How We Love | p. 81 |
| Chapter 5 How We Cope | p. 115 |
| Chapter 6 How We Matter | p. 149 |
