Packaging Girlhood is a must read, and not just for those with daughters. Lamb and Brown produce a vivid picture of what life is like for today’s girls, exposing the ways in which marketers and the media have manipulated girl power into the power to shop, to be sexy, and to obsess over boys and celebrities. These limiting messages are found everywhere—in what girls wear, watch, listen to, read, and do—and are shoved down girls’ throats even before they can talk. But don’t worry; the authors of Packaging Girlhood guide us through all of these categories, helping us to see past deceptively positive facades and to read between the lines. Most importantly, Lamb and Brown provide plenty of valuable suggestions on how to speak to girls of every age. Their feasible examples urge us to question, to listen, to speak honestly, and to offer girls (better) alternatives.

Girls aren’t the only ones who have been fooled. We’ve seen and heard the same messages our entire lives, and we’ve started believing (and in some cases living out) those messages. Packaging Girlhood will probably open your eyes and influence your views, too. Happy reading.