She's Twelve Going on Twenty by Kim Camp (Book Review)

*Disclosure- I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher via Book Sneeze in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book:

Especially for moms of teens and preteens, a practical, Christ-centered guide to helping your daughter grow in mind, body, and spirit.
As the mother of a young girl aged 9 to 16, you want a lot for your daughter. You want to see her soar in self-confidence and accomplishment, to navigate a safe course through the treacherous waters of school, culture, and hormones, and to grow closer to God while learning to rely on his Word. And through it all to maintain a warm, open mother-daughter relationship.
She's Twelve Going on Twenty offers a comprehensive, Christian approach to issues almost every mother and daughter will encounter:

• Identity and faith
• Music, movies, TV, and the Internet
• Boys and falling in love, sex and purity
• School and grades
• Drugs and alcohol
• Clothes, fads, appearance, and body language
• Boundaries and personal safety

Easy-to-read and deeply personal, this invaluable book draws on a wealth of experience, careful research, and a deep grounding in the Bible and Christian faith. "Working It Out Together"at the end of each chapter provides communication starters and activities to help you and your daughter talk things out and plot a positive course together for the challenging but exciting adolescent years.

My thoughts:

I'll admit, at 5 years old my daughter is nowhere near in the age range this book is aimed at, but as a often befuddled parent, I think that it is never too early to research, learn or seek out advice about parenting. My parents were from the old school state of mind that we just don't bring up private things or things parents just don't want to talk with their kids about and so I think that makes me want to be more open with my kids. She's Twelve Going on Twenty touches on all of the difficult subjects that I know will not be easy once my daughter is a pre-teen. I thought the book was laid out in a very organized manner and touched on all of the subjects that moms need advice on about their daughters. One of the most helpful things about the book are the true life examples of pre-teen and teen girls going through different things and how even two daughters in the same family might react differently to the same situation. The whole point of the book really is to gently guide your daughter through pre-teen and teen issues such as body image, faith, boys, sex/purity and changes within their own bodies. What I got out of this book was that we really need to be in tune to our daughter's personalities to best know how to approach these tough subjects with them (don't know your daughter's personality type? Don't worry, there are examples in the book to help you figure it out!). One of the main things that this book seems to focus on is keeping an open line of communication with our daughters and a really neat way that can be done is at the end of each chapter in this book, there are several discussion questions for mom and daughter to discuss and answer together. She's Twelve Going on Twenty will definitely be the first book I read for when my daughter hits those tween years, which isn't too far off if I really think about it. I think studying this book together could bring a mother and daughter closer together and might help answer some of the tough questions parents often face when it comes to their daughters.

About the author:

Kim Camp is the host and producer of the Lifersize video series for expectant and new mothers and the author of the book Fit to Be Mom.

Find out more about Kim Camp at FaithGateway.com