Essential Life Skills for Girls: Everything You Need to Know to Thrive at Home, at School, and Out in the World

by Lisa Quirk Weinman, Megan Monaghan, Martha Sue Coursey (illustrator)

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade

144 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2024

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Zeitgeist, for the advance reading copy.

I do feel my life would have a lot, lot better if I happened to read such a book in my developing years.
The book focuses mainly on two areas where we as teens are most likely to be at: Home and School.

I like how the chapters and subtopics are so organised as well as practical to follow for the readers of this age (10-14 years of age).

Basic life skills on how to maintain our rooms/ personal
space and what we can do to be independent and helpful at this age.

Starting from making the bed to personal hygiene; managing school activities and what we can do to make the environment better this guidebook gives a lot of practical amazing ideas on how we as young people can do to acquire basic life skills.

Totally recommended!

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Essential Life Skills For Girls is a simple but resourceful and useful handbook for girls aged 10-14 years of age to help them learn skills to become independent, resourceful, and empowered. Some of the skills in this book I guessed would be included, but there were many I didn't think of at all.
This is definitely a useful book, and one that my own daughter, who is 12, would benefit from.
The book was written by two middle school teachers and is written in an easy to follow, understand and grasp format that keeps things simple and not overloaded with information or steps. This will be a great confidence builder and helpfull book for many young girls to learn essential skills from to become independent and self-sufficient.

[Araya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arc Review:
Overall Rating: 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a good book, everything is laid out so neatly and organized it’s very easy to follow along with, it gives good details and information of each skill that you should know. I also really enjoyed the illustrations and pictures included with the book.

Thank you NetGalley

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really great. It’s laid out so it’s very easy to understand. It gives fantastic detailed information of actual skills that we need to know. The illustrations are cute too.
I appreciate how the life skills given are first focused on taking care of yourself and then goes into cleaning, clothing care and cooking before moving on to safety then ending with sound body and mind.
I will be purchasing this for a few girls I know once it’s released.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and especially the authors for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.

[Marnie Diem · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Essential Life Skills for Girls" immediately grabs your attention with its relevant premise. Authored by a pair of experienced middle school teachers, the book offers a clear understanding of the challenges and triumphs faced by this age group.

This book shines with its wealth of practical knowledge. From the well-organized and user-friendly layout to the engaging writing style, "Essential Life Skills for Girls" makes learning enjoyable. The authors avoid complex vocabulary, ensuring every concept is easy to grasp. Impressively comprehensive, the book covers a vast array of skills many might not even consider, empowering girls to become self-sufficient young women. The emphasis on fostering independence is particularly valuable, as it builds confidence during this critical developmental stage.

While the text is easy to follow, the occasional absence of visuals can make some sections feel lengthy. There really needs to be an addition of images and digrams to break things up a bit. Additionally, there are a few questionable recommendations, such as favoring pizza over quesadillas for protein in lunches. The food section is particularly concerning, as the target audience is at such an impressionable age. Overall, however, these are minor drawbacks in an otherwise exceptional resource.

"Essential Life Skills for Girls" is an informative and engaging read for young women. Its clear structure, practical advice, and encouraging tone make it a valuable addition to any girl's bookshelf.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an ARC copy of this book!

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Essential Life Skills for Girls could easily be titled "Essential Life Skills for Everybody". It was a quick-paced, easy to read, guide to becoming a functioning adult. As an adult, I found myself reading through the list-like text, nodding my head, and realizing that I need to buy this book to have in the library, as well as for my own teenage daughters. I also found myself realizing that I could also learn from this book.
This book was very easy to read, with just enough illustrations to break up the text into bite size pieces. Does it have everything we want our children to know going out in the world? Of course not; but, it is a very good addition to the skills we try to instill in our teenagers/young adults.
As always, it can be difficult to entice the target audience to read a book on the subject of life skills, but this book is engaging enough to keep one reading it, once it is picked up. It is also organized in a way that it can be put down and picked up later, or read by chapter of interest and one will still walk away knowing more than before they picked it up.
Definitely recommend libraries to put this on their shelves.

[Karen Mazzaferri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am giving this 4 stars based on some of the content. I felt the first part with cleaning tips are things many kids, boys and girls, know. I did like the self help part - screwing something back together, using a plunger and clothes cleaning is always helpful. I would have rather seen tips for emergencies, such as a water leak (where to turn the water off) or power. What if there is a weird smell like rotten eggs. These are important and everyone should know how to deal with emergencies. I did like most the other parts dealing with social media, peer pressure, how to self advocate. Young girls need guidance on this area as they can become passive. Overall, this title did have many useful tips, but I wasn’t keen on all the cleaning parts I also would have liked to see more cooking information. How to read a recipe and maybe some easy recipes to do.

I would like to thank #netgalley #zeitgeist for the opportunity to review this title.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My eldest child just turned 10, so when I saw the title of this book, and the 10-14 target age range, it jumped out to me immediately. There are a few great books for this age range focused on puberty specifically, but I haven’t yet seen one focused on the other aspects of tweenhood.

This book was a succinct but thorough compilation of important life skills for tweens of any gender. We parents occasionally struggle with the right words to explain concepts like appropriate internet and phone usage, financial literacy, and hygiene. Not only is the language straightforward and easy to comprehend, but there are examples given for every bullet point, and even pictures to help the reader understand the information.

This book will be a great reference to have on the shelf in our house, for all of our kids.

[Bube Ale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is educational guide for girls from 10 to 14 years old. In a very inspiring way educated everything from how to clean the home, how to prepare the meal, how to be effective at studying, how to safe the money, how to be good yourself and with your family and friends. And how to take care for your health and hygiene. This book is a great gift for birthday with one flower or chocolate! I strongly recommend it to read this and make sure that girls will be more confident and happy with all new knowledge from it! I will buy one book for my kids in family!
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and to make recommendations for this great book for girls!

[Sally Wilsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a teen my Dad wanted me to be independent. My Mom taught me the girl stuff like cooking, baking, cleaning, sewing and crafts. Dad taught me how to fix a car, use power tools and non power tools, plumbing and carpentry. I was forever grateful and did the same with my children and now granddaughter. This book is a lot like what my Dad and Mom taught me. With tech taking over it would be a great way to unplug and have family time. It also has a part on safety with technology. I really like the checklist to keep things on track.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and playful guidebook for tweens, with lots of helpful tips in a variety of categories. As the mom of a teen and a tween, some of the tips seemed incredibly simple, but I'm sure I would have found it very helpful when I was younger and had to figure out many things on my own (or with the help of a book). I know my girls will probably read through it once or twice and learn something new!


(I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)