Title: "SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap"
Author: Peggy Orenstein
Publisher: Doubleday
-! Length, price: 335 pages, $23
In 1992, the American Association of University Women conducted a study involving more than 3,000 children between the ages of 9 and 15. It found that by the time they reach adolescence, an enormous number of girls experience a dramatic loss of self esteem.
Peggy Orenstein, a journalist and former editor of Mother Jones magazine, decided to find out more. She spent a year following a group of eighth-grade girls from two extremely different Northern California schools. The resulting book, "SchoolGirls," is an informative and sometimes tragic look at exactly what causes so many girls to warp their personalities and often their bodies in the hope of fitting into a male-dominated world.
Ms. Orenstein's writing is excellent. She knows when to end an anecdote, when to insert herself and when to give statistics. "Schoolgirls" is also well researched, although one area not examined is the inborn differences between girls and boys, differences many studies have shown actually exist. Still, "SchoolGirls" is a fascinating book.