It's a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters

I adored this book. As someone who has been wrestling with the awe-inspiring task in front of her, of raising a girl, this collection minced no words about women with similar struggles. Plus, it truly helped me come to terms with what has really been nagging me - having to confront my own foibles and deal with my own dust-bunny-littered past so I can be the sort of mother I wished I'd had. It's no small feat.

I don't have children, but I enjoyed these essays nonetheless. Some very interesting perspectives from a variety of women on raising girls in our modern world, and trying to find the balance between girliness and feminism.

There are some really lovely pieces in this book--a collage in regards to the breast that is doing things I want to have going on with my own hybrid work. There's a concluding piece that shows her daughter dominating the local fishing industry. There are also pieces by honest women I wouldn't want to encounter off the page: a mother who had plastic surgery after a boyfriend suggested she should do something about her flaccid thrice-breastfeeding breasts, who had difficulty with her doll-daughter [...]

A book of essays about women's feelings on having and raising a daughter. While it seemed they tried to get a good scope of women to comment, only one had anything to say about faith (or two if you count the Buddhist), so that was a drawback. It is funny how so many of us try to stop the pink and princesses but pretty much all talk about how girls are attracted to that. It is also so much easier for a girl to chose to be a tomboy. I had no negative emotions about having a girl, am fine with pink [...]

After our anatomy scan last week & finding out our baby's gender (GIRL - woot!), I was itching to add a gender-related parenting book to my reading list. I agree the stories were quite short, but it made for easy quick reading on my iPhone during moments of waiting in line, etc. I haven't read the 'It's a Boy' companion version so I can't compare, but I found the stories here diverse yet easy to relate to in some way or another. After all, we're all mothers grappling with our own feelings ab [...]

A collection of personal essays about being the mother of a daughter. I read It's a Boy a few years ago, and loved it. This collection didn't resonate on the same personal level, I think because I haven't found really myself dealing with or reacting to Zoe's gender yet. (What I mean is, having a baby boy caused a lot of strong emotions within myself; having a baby girl was just something I accepted. I suspect this is more to do with my own growth as a parent than anything to do with the children [...]

A companion volume to It's A Boy, which I read a couple of years ago. For some season, I found this one less memorable than the other, but can't pinpoint why. Like most collections, this one had some stories which were top-notch (Andrea Buchanan and Catherine Newman are always a joy to read)and others which I've already forgotten. I was particularly moved by some of the essays on separation. Many of the writers contribute to Brain, Child and Literary Mama, which are two of the finest mama lit so [...]

I received this book as a gift; not something I would have picked up otherwise, I think. But I really enjoyed some of the essays and am thinking of getting it as a gift for a couple of friends who recently had girls. Am wondering if the "It's a Boy" volume would be a good gift for a friend who's going to have a boy soon, too.

This was a nice idea, having various moms write about their lives with daughters, but the entries felt brief and rushed -- at least the ones I perused -- and were oddly full of stereotypes. The better writers had the better pieces, among them Joyce Maynard's.

I enjoyed reading the essays in this collection--I would recommend it to any mother or daughter, especially a mother of a daughter =) One missing aspect was a spiritual perspective, but still worth reading.

Andrea Buchanan is a great editor and I would eagerly pick up any book with her name on it. These essays warm and tickle my heart -- the heart of a mom with a daughter. A book to re-read as my girl gets older.

mehh some parts were good. I was actually hoping for moreke some kind of insight into my struggles raising a daughter

Loved this one, too.

I read It's a Boy when Max was a wee one, and this one is great for the time and place I'm inShort little essays by various mother-writers, my favorite kind of reading!

I loved all of these poignant, funny, irreverant stories about women raising their daughters.

Decent, but some parts were too stridently feminist for me. I liked some essays a lot though.