Reviving Ophelia : Saving the Lives of Adolescent Girls

Rating:
Summary: I've finally found help.
Review: I am 17 and have been battling anorexia/bulimia for the last year. I try not to eat, but when I do, I have to get rid of it. I feel awful after I eat, no matter what it is that I eat. Your book has shown me that there is help and what I'm doing to my body could seriously affect my life. I'm not yet ready for help and I don't know when I will be, but it helped to read some of the success stories from all of the chapters, not just the ones on eating disorders. I'm one of those people that no one would think to be like this. I'm from an upper-class family, popular, and I have a lot of friends. Things like this don't happen to people like me, but it did and I have to get through it. Thank you Ms. Pipher. I know I haven't gotten help yet, but at least I can admit that I do have a problem.

Rating:
Summary: I think this book helps girls to understand themselves.
Review: I usually NEVER read, but this book opened my eyes.I am 15 years old, and I have had just about every problem imaginable, I though that I was the only person going through hell as a teenager, but it seems that so many people go through the same kind of problems as I have gone through.I go to therapy twice a week and I didn't understand why I couln't just be normal, but I am learning that I am normal, I'm starting to accept myself.I think that Mary Phiper is an excellent doctor as well as a role model, she is strong, she helps people get through hard times, and she helps them to stay strong.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but flawed
Review: The book's flaw is that the author tries to convince the reader of generalities by offering unconnected anecdotes. What's more, her position as a psychotherapist taints her perspective. It is somewhat analogous to a fireman claiming that all cats are stuck in trees. Despite the flaws in methodology it does offer some interesting and thought provoking points.

Rating:
Summary: this book brings reality to what the world has come to.
Review: i am a fifteen year old women and i suffer from depression and eating disorders. when my mom handed me this book i refused to read it. but when i read the cover i knew it would be good. the book lead me to realize i am not the only one suffering from depression. it also helped me get help for myself. thank you ms. pipher.

Rating:
Summary: This book is enlightening and should be required for all.
Review: This book is enlightening in the fact that Pipher teaches us how many adolescent females are pulled from their innocence by the media, and sociey at large. Pipher paints images of several girls and their struggle to survive the hardest stage of life -adolescents. This book is highly recommended to all women -mothers who want to understand their daughters, and women who want to understand their own adolescents. 6 stars.

Rating:
Summary: I'm so glad I read this book
Review: I borrowed a copy from the Library, and after reading the first chapter I purchased a copy so I could highlight and underline the wise advice that this author gives for parenting the adolescent female. I found this book to be enlightening, not only for raising my two (adolescent) daughters, but also for understanding much of what I went through as a teen. Anyone who has a daughter, was a daughter, or cares about a young girl going through adolescence, a most turbulent time, should read this book! I've read it once for myself, and now I'm going to read it again for my girls - with the highlighter! Thank you, Mary Bray Pipher.

Rating:
Summary: Pseudo science.
Review: The author paints a bleak picture of life for adolescent girls. She gives very little (if any) credit to the girls who succeed quite nicely through the tribulations of adolescence. Nor has the author done a statistically valid sampling of teenage girls. Instead, because she works with troubled teens, she assumes that ALL teens suffer these problems. Guess what? If you talk to troubled girls, you're going to find troubles. Wow! What a concept. The case studies in this book are disturbing and touching. You really feel for these girls. They have definitely lost themselves somewhere. Yet, until I see a study of randomly selected girls, I will remain unconvinced that this book accurately reflects the lives of anyone other than these specific individuals.

Rating:
Summary: a light in the darkness
Review: this book was really amazing. it really helped me realize that i'm not the only one going through this. i'm a 14 year old girl, diagnosed with ADD and severe depression. i've been into self-mutilation, inflicting horrible pain on myself, suicide attempts, eating disorders... you name it, i've probably done it unless it's drugs. i loved reading Mrs. Pipher's wonderful analysis's of what really does go on "inside the mind of a teenage girl". i think that often, people don't understand how hard it can be. although, a lot of people are not like this, there are some of us whose lives are pretty much shit and this book has given a lot of us hope. thank god for Mrs.Pipher! END

Rating:
Summary: A book focused on the minority rather than the majority.
Review: This book, though very well-written, seems to be a collection of blanket statements that underestimate the power that the majority of young women have within them. Mrs. Pipher creates a persona of girls that just isn't as common as she presents it to be. I feel that her philosophies toward those girls that this book presents are entirely intelligent and organized, but nevertheless, after reading the book, I came away thinking that I was the only young woman who "escaped" the perils of adolescence. Pipher seems to be trying to break the mold of the thin, quiet, go-with-the-flow girl, but in the process, creates the mold of the dysfunctional, troubled, abusive and taken-advantage-of girl who simply remains in the minority. Walk though the halls of any high school, and you will find confident, astute young women who know who they are and what their purpose is. They are athletes, musicians, artists, politicians, writers, poets and orators. They are surpassing expatations for them every day, and they are now trying to break free from the new mold created by "Reviving Ophelia."

Rating:
Summary: This book saved my life
Review: I read Reviving Ophelia.... about 2 years ago when I was suffering from bulimia. To this day, I still refer to it, and agree with every aspect of what it entails. This book was definitly an eye opener and it truthfully describes the world that women live in. It should be required reading for everyone.