BODY DRAMA-NANCY AMANDA REDD

Do you remember high school? How you worried that no one else had those weird zits on their back? When you were desperate for the perfect tan? Or when you were sure that everyone else's parts were absolutely symmetrical, but yours were not? BODY DRAMA is a book that I wish I had had back then. Author Nancy Amanda Redd is a Harvard graduate. She is also the winner of the Miss America Swimsuit Contest. 

BODY DRAMA is divided into five separate sections- Shape, Skin, Boobs, Hair and Nails, and 'Down There.' Each section is further divided into about ten "dramas." In the "Skin" section, for example, the dramas include "My Face is a Zit Factory," as well as "I'm Addicted to Tanning," and "My Thighs Look Like Cottage Cheese." There are "How To's" e.g. "How to Give Yourself a Facial" and "How to Find the Perfect Piercer." There are tons and tons of other features, e.g. short articles about  detecting skin cancer and recognizing the differences between cold sores and herpes. And that's only the "Skin" section…other sections address things like perspiration, gastrointestinal issues, and STD's. BODY DRAMA also contains many, many pictures of "real" teenage girls, with normal shaped bodies. 

This is a book I wish I had had when I was in high school and college. It's a book I want to give to all of the high school and college girls I know. Redd addresses a myriad of really personal issues, but she does it in a way that's natural and friendly and helpful. She helps teenage girls realize that all of their health concerns are perfectly normal, and that they are not alone. She helps young women know "what to do when…" and when to consult their doctors. She provides lists of websites and organizations that young women might need. 

Interestingly, BODY DRAMA is a book I also enjoyed sharing with my teenage boys. I especially liked showing  them the sections that compared normal photographs of teenage girls with the same "Photo-shopped" or computer enhanced photos. 

Now if only there was a BODY DRAMA  for boys…

DISCLAIMER: This is a tremendous resource for teenage girls. I plan to order a copy for the young women in my life. It contains lots of graphic (and really helpful) photographs, however, and is not a book that I would have in an elementary school library.