Cathy Liska 
Book review of Embrace Your Confidence: Teenage Girl’s Empowerment Workbook with Real-Life Examples, Action Steps, and Interactive Elements by Cary O. Goodwin Reviewer: Risa Seelenfreund
This book addresses the challenges faced by teen girls by empowering them to build their resilience and self-assurance. It is designed as a workbook, providing practical guidance, real-life examples, thought-provoking exercises, and actionable steps to help girls navigate this exciting, perplexing, and challenging time in their lives. It encourages teens to reflect on their own strengths, values, and goals, fostering self-awareness and self-acceptance.
The book is divided into five distinct parts, focusing on understanding oneself, navigating social environments, finding balance, exploring the future, and making connections. Each part has three short chapters, full of reflection exercises, including journal prompts, scenarios, and worksheets. Each chapter concludes with “Be Inspired,” examples of famous girls and women who have navigated the topic of the chapter. Examples include Taylor Swift (The Power of Self-Expression), Olivia Rodriguo (Empathy and Compassion), and Auli’i Cravalho from Moana (Cultural Pride and Aspirations).
In full transparency, I am the parent of a teen girl, so I was very interested in reading this book. I found many things to like about it. The book is not an academic tome, which would surely lead teen girls to roll their eyes. Instead, the chapters are short and punchy. The language used seems engaging for teens, so they will not feel like they are being lectured to. The exercises are practical, thought-provoking, and varied. Best of all, the book is flexible. It does not have to be read cover to cover; a girl can pick and choose chapters that make sense for her. She can complete the exercises independently or with a friend. It also opens the door for meaningful conversations with parents or other trusted adults, if she chooses.
From my perspective, there is not much to dislike about the book. I only wish there had been an appendix with questions or conversation starters that a parent could use to open a discussion with their teen girl about the topics in the book.
Now for a teen perspective … Since the book is designed for teen girls, and I have one in my own home, I asked her to read through the workbook and share her thoughts. The very first comment she made was, “I really liked it!” Win #1. She felt that it was written through the eyes of teen, making it relatable. Win #2. She appreciated the clear and specific table of contents so she could select topics that were important to her. Win #3.
She liked that the workbook included exercises, though she found some more useful than others. For example, she did not appreciate the exercises that asked the reader to do research. She felt that she would do exercises that she could do directly in the workbook, mentioning, “I just want paper and pencil. I’m not going to take out my computer and start Googling.” (No technology? This was music to my ears.)
Some of the exercises asked the reader to discuss the content with a parent or other person they trusted. My teen felt that she would speak with others about some exercises, but some were too personal to share. She would have preferred softer language like, “If you’re comfortable, share with someone you trust.”
Finally, while I thought including celebrity stories would make the topics more relatable and make girls feel less alone, she did not see the need. However, she acknowledged other girls might appreciate that girls or women they admire have similar experiences.
Overall, the book was a thumbs up from both of us. The Introduction to the book states that the workbook was designed “to guide you through the process of growing up to one day become someone you can be proud of.” What more could a parent or teen girl ask from a book?
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