Rating: 
Summary: no no no continued
Review: Also, I would like to agree with the teenage girl who mentioned depression cannot be blamed on environment or lifestyle. Definitely correct. It took severe depression (not a result of my upbringing but a result of my unfortunate genetics) for me to realize I did not want to be one of the girls I described, and I am not.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally
Review: As a recent survivor of adolescence, I know firsthand how important Reviving Ophelia really is. This book shares a host of stories about girls undergoing a variety of crises--and while some seem a bit extreme, all the issues dealt with (eating disorders, peer pressure, self-inflicted harm, etc.) are becomingly frighteningly common.I think this is a great book to be read by parents and daughters alike. When I read it, I felt a little bit less "alone" in a sense, knowing that almost all girls face rough times in adolesence. And while I had it much easier than most girls in the stories, some of the techniques the author tried with her patients were pretty helpful for me. When my mom read it, it helped her to more fully understand what the middle school situation was like, and helped her deal with some of my troubles. It certainly surprised her that middle school is so different now than it was in her day! We both learned quite a bit in the reading. I recommend this book without reservation, and I'm glad that there is finally a highly regarded, truthful portrait of the dangers girls must face in growing up.
Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: As a recent survivor of adolescence, I know firsthand how important Reviving Ophelia really is. This book shares a host of stories about girls undergoing a variety of crises--and while some seem a bit extreme, all the issues dealt with (eating disorders, peer pressure, self-inflicted harm, etc.) are becomingly frighteningly common. I think this is a great book to be read by parents and daughters alike. When I read it, I felt a little bit less "alone" in a sense, knowing that almost all girls face rough times in adolesence. And while I had it much easier than most girls in the stories, some of the techniques the author tried with her patients were pretty helpful for me. When my mom read it, it helped her to more fully understand what the middle school situation was like, and helped her deal with some of my troubles. It certainly surprised her that middle school is so different now than it was in her day! We both learned quite a bit in the reading. I recommend this book without reservation, and I'm glad that there is finally a highly regarded, truthful portrait of the dangers girls must face in growing up.
Rating: 
Summary: It was very helpful, readable, eye-opening
Review: I am a 23 year old woman and read this book when I was in high school. I very much identified with much of what Pipher deals with in the book and feel like it is quite on target for many middle-class white girls/teenagers. Other readers are correct in pointing out that she does not deal enough with the "chemical" element of depression, nor does she deal enough with the struggles of non-white girls or those who struggle with poverty. Certainly the book addresses a somewhat narrow audience. Yes, it could be interpreted as if depression and struggles were primarily environmental. However, even with a predisposition toward depression, many things can aggravate that, and I believe the book deals well with those things. Girls can deal with a predisposition toward depression in many ways-- by maintaining self-confidence in the face of super-thin models and the media bombardment that tells girls and women not to be happy with their bodies and looks, by developing strength by understanding their own bodies and sexuality, through familial support and empathy. I very much suggest that parents of girls/young women between the ages of 7-18 read this book. No it doesn't give the answers to everything, but I believe it does illuminate many of the struggles and challenges that girls face as they move into the teenage years. It was very helpful for me to read it as a teenager and for my parents to read it. It helped to articulate a lot of the emptiness, sadness and awkwardness I felt as I grew into young womanhood, but I couldn't exactly explain why.
Rating:
Summary: It was very helpful, readable, eye-opening
Review: I am a 23 year old woman and read this book when I was in high school. I very much identified with much of what Pipher deals with in the book and feel like it is quite on target for many middle-class white girls/teenagers. Other readers are correct in pointing out that she does not deal enough with the "chemical" element of depression, nor does she deal enough with the struggles of non-white girls or those who struggle with poverty. Certainly the book addresses a somewhat narrow audience. Yes, it could be interpreted as if depression and struggles were primarily environmental. However, even with a predisposition toward depression, many things can aggravate that, and I believe the book deals well with those things. Girls can deal with a predisposition toward depression in many ways-- by maintaining self-confidence in the face of super-thin models and the media bombardment that tells girls and women not to be happy with their bodies and looks, by developing strength by understanding their own bodies and sexuality, through familial support and empathy. I very much suggest that parents of girls/young women between the ages of 7-18 read this book. No it doesn't give the answers to everything, but I believe it does illuminate many of the struggles and challenges that girls face as they move into the teenage years. It was very helpful for me to read it as a teenager and for my parents to read it. It helped to articulate a lot of the emptiness, sadness and awkwardness I felt as I grew into young womanhood, but I couldn't exactly explain why.
Rating: 
Summary: review
Review: I am a college student who is surrounded everyday by the topics that are repeatedly brought up in this book. Reviving Ophelia is written by an author who is also a clinical psychologist. Many of the issues that she discusses in this book have to do with adolescent girls and teenagers. Pipher wrote this book differently than a normal book would have been written. This book could be compared to a diary, because of how there were different entries for each girl she counseled. She separated each chapter by those certain crises or problems that occur in a girl's life and then within each chapter she would relive the session she had with a specific girl and sometimes would discuss how the child's family behaved. In each chapter she would discuss at least three different girls' case studies.
I think this is a great book for either a mother or a daughter to read, because both could relate to the book in different ways. If a mother with an adolescent girl reads this book she would probably find it very useful, since it points out what her child is going through at school, what's going on in the child's head, and also it can counsel the parents at the same time; if they are doing something wrong. It is great for the girls of this society to read Reviving Ophelia, because it shows that you're not alone in the struggles of your life. Some examples of the specific topics that girls could more than likely relate to are eating disorders, depression, divorce, abuse, being verbally harassed, and about having sex at an early age.
The author does a good job of putting those controversial topics that I listed above into clear view and talks about what you should do if you are in that situation or what you could do to flip your life around in the opposite direction.
I think the saddest chapter in this book shows that most girls pay attention to the society's stereotypical body type of a model. Most girls today are forced to look at beautiful skinny women in every magazine or television advertisement. An excellent example of the increasing pressure to be skinny that the author presents was in the chapter called, Worshipping the Gods of Thinness. The specfic fact that I found shocking, was the differences between the average Miss America's body type. The very first Miss America weighed 140 pounds and the average height was 5'5" and the most recent average weight is 110 pounds with the average height of 5'10". This shows how
Rating:
Summary: Adolescent(not incl of ages 7 to 11)
Review: I purchased Mary Pipher Ph.D's paperback edition"Reviving Ophelia"(subtittle :Saving The Selves of Adolescent Girls) from a local all-purpose store.Besides its acknowledge page(of whom there were many to thank) and its "In memory page(Frank & Avis Bray) and its recommended reading pages(357-358) as well as an extensive Index(Pgs 359-370)and preface..the author gives warning ahead of time (Pgs 2 &3) that "Girls between the ages of 7 and eleven rarely come to therapy because they don't need it....Piper's few exceptions were those who experienced physical abuse(Coreen),had a parent commit suicide(Brenda) ,had parents who were divorcing(Anna)...She said their attitudes were resilient "also courageous"..that it wasn't until 9th grade that disgust & boredom over enthusiasm,blackmailing parents with threat of suicide or "threats to run away from home"emerged which had surprised "the" mother(Pg 3) who said to her daughter "What happened to you? You used to be able to handle not getting your way".The book resurrects "Ophelia"(character from Shakespeare's "Hamlet on Pg 355(on "Cause & Cure summary),as to why Ophelia succumbed..(having first mentioned the fictious character,Ophelia on Pg 4 scrutinized as going from 'happy and free' to "aimless" quotes former USA attorney general Ms Janet Reno (Pg 346),and proceeds throughout with case history of food disorder problems of a "Heidi","Samantha","Violet","Prudence" to the Sex & Violence "Christy,Lizzie,Angela,Ellie,Terra to ethnic influenced Evonne(black),Maria(Hispanic),and Chapters on Father/daughter group therapy;Mother/daughter group therapy and the may other problems that burden "0ver 11 year olders) ...PhD "er" mary Pipher even slips in a therapy session scenario with a "over the hill 25 year older(June age 27) Pgs 324-328..her one and only case history away from the non-fiction "Reviving Ophelia".
Rating:
Summary: Good Overview on today's Environment for pre-women
Review: I read this book 2 years ago - when my daughter was 15. A real eye openner for a 40-something father. It is not a 'scientific' review of personal disorders, but does a nice job outlining some of the (unfortunately) common problems that today's girls face. So many of the new freedoms that western women have at their discretion create problems for emotionally unprepared youth - boys and girls. Girls seem to face the more difficult challanges. I recommend it often to friends as they grapple with issues with their teenage daughters.
Rating:
Summary: Of a rare quality
Review: I used this book, taken from a list provided, as the subject of a term paper for a college psychology class. This was about 3 years ago, and it still takes my mind to a place of deep thought and reveals new insights. This book was interesting to read, and the author discloses information (that is difficult to know of) in an objective manner which is not devoid of kindness and respect for all involved. I admire this author's work because it facilitated an authentic communication for me. It allowed me to have a candid audience with teenage girls, and get a glimpse of what goes on in the mind, that before I had only seen the results of. It helped me to understand what is behind the behavior. I was so impressed with this book that I told one of the high school counselors about it. He has the book now, I gave it to him. This book isn't about blame and shame, it is about understanding and knowing.
Rating:
Summary: Of a rare quality
Review: I used this book, taken from a list provided, as the subject of a term paper for a college psychology class. This was about 3 years ago, and it still takes my mind to a place of deep thought and reveals new insights. This book was interesting to read, and the author discloses information (that is difficult to know of) in an objective manner which is not devoid of kindness and respect for all involved. I admire this author's work because it facilitated an authentic communication for me. It allowed me to have a candid audience with teenage girls, and get a glimpse of what goes on in the mind, that before I had only seen the results of. It helped me to understand what is behind the behavior. I was so impressed with this book that I told one of the high school counselors about it. He has the book now, I gave it to him. This book isn't about blame and shame, it is about understanding and knowing.
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