Hey Smart Girls!

I just found out that my book has been named to the Amelia Bloomer Project’s List of Recommended Feminist Books for Young Readers 2008! I’m so excited about this honor, since the list is all about honoring books for children and teens with feminist themes. The list of 2008 books was just announced at the American Library Association’s mid-winter conference, and while the Amelia Bloomer Project’s website hasn’t yet been updated, you can see the list of complete winners on their . In the meantime, here is a partial list of the books In Their Shoes shares this prestigious honor with. Congrats to all!

Middle Grade Non-Fiction

• Silent in an Evil Time: the Brave War of Edith Cavell by Jack Batten
• War, Women, and the News: How Female Journalists Won the Battle to Cover World War II by Catherine Gourley
• Victoria Woodhull: Fearless Feminist by Kate Havelin
• Civil War Doctor: The Story of Mary Walker by Carla Joinson
• Marie Curie by Kathleen Krull
• In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers by Deborah Reber
• Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer by Gretchen Woelfle
• Jyotirmayee Mohapatra: Advocate for India’s Young Women by Adam Woog

Hi gals,

I just found out about a few great opportunities that I wanted to pass along. Check them out below!

Essence’s Annual Take Back the Music Contest

Is music your life? The ESSENCE Take Back the Music campaign and the Berklee College of Music are back with their annual search for hip-hop’s next great voice. Lyricists and songwriters, ages 15 to 19, will compete to win tuition-free summer classes at Berklee’s Boston campus, where students learn fundamentals of performance, composition, production and the music business. Additionally, the top scholarship recipients will perform their winning songs at the 2008 Peace Hip-Hop Festival at Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Find out more and apply online here.

• Ages: 15 – 19 years old
• Deadline: March 10, 2008

American Young Ambassadors Program

Are you excited about meeting, volunteering beside, and learning about other youth from a variety of backgrounds? Have you actively served in your community, school or religious group by volunteering your time and talents? Do you get excited just thinking about new cultures and new places?

If this describes you, consider applying for the American Young Ambassadors today. The AYA is a global leadership program for 30 exceptional high school students, recognized for the work they have accomplished in their communities. The youth selected for this program will represent the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China from August 4-17, 2008.

Find out more and apply online here.

• Ages: 15 – 18 years old
• Deadline: March 3, 2008

And one more opportunity for college students…

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Summer Internship Program

Television Academy Foundation internships are designed to give qualified full-time students (undergraduate and graduate) pursuing degrees at colleges and universities in the United States in-depth exposure to professional television production, techniques and practices. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is the organization behind the Emmy awards. Students interested in working in any facet of the television industry would benefit from this program.

Find out more here.

• Deadline: March 15, 2008

Good luck!

XOXO Debbie

Smart Girls Know Affirmation: Smart Girls Know the Power of Visualizing

Have you ever wanted something so much that you could actually see it happening? Maybe you wanted to ace your history test, or you were hoping a certain someone would ask you to be his or her date to the homecoming bonfire. Or maybe you wanted to accomplish a personal goal, like throw the perfect pitch or play Beethoven’s Sonata in G flawlessly.

Whatever your goals, visualizing yourself reaching them is actually a powerful step in making it come true. What is visualizing you ask? It’s just what it sounds like – envisioning or seeing yourself doing the very thing you hope to do. Don’t get me wrong – visualizing doesn’t mean that you can skip out on all the hard work that goes along with reaching your goal. For example, visualizing playing Beethoven’s Sonata in G flawlessly will only work if you actually practice and perfect your performance. But by seeing yourself doing it, you’ll be mentally and emotionally setting yourself up for success.

Here are some tips for visualizing:

• Pick a time to visualize when you are free of distractions
• Close your eyes and imagine what achieving your goal would look, feel, and sound like
• Spend a little time each day visualizing
• Make your vision more real by writing about it in your journal or creating a dream collage
• Don’t expect instant results!

To find out more about how you can use positive energy to achieve your goals, check out this new book from my publisher Simon Pulse: by Annabel Monaghan and Elisabeth Wolfe.

Based on the idea that what you give is what you get, Click! explains how to figure out what you really want; how to focus on your goals using positive energy; and, ultimately, how to achieve those goals.

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This Month’s MUST READ

Ever seen the movies High Fidelity or About a Boy? Those movies are based on novels by my absolute favorite author, Nick Hornby. Nick just jumped into the world of YA novels with his new book, , which came out last fall.

Slam deals with the issue of teen pregnancy, and does so from a place of honesty and humor. It tells the story of what happens when 15-year-old Sam gets his girlfriend pregnant and their worlds are turned upside down. I loved this book not only for the author’s witty writing, but also because the main character’s voice is that of a 15-year-old boy, and so it provided great insight into the inner thoughts of those beings that perplexed, confused, and frustrated me so much when I was a teen girl.

To listen to a podcast of Nick Hornby reading an excerpt from his book, click here.

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Thank the Mentors in Your Life

Do you have a mentor in your life? You know…someone who wants to see you succeed and provides you guidance as you work towards reaching your goals. Your mentor might be a big sister or a teacher, or maybe you have a mentor through an official organization, or your relationship is more informal. Whatever it looks like, these important relationships can have a tremendous influence in your life. Mentors do things like:

• give you insight and advice on how to reach your goals
• be a reference for college or job apps
• give you guidance about school, college, and career choices

January is National Mentoring Month, and January 24, 2008 has officially been named “Thank Your Mentor Day” by the organization Mentoring. If you have a special mentor in your life, make sure to thank him or her for everything they bring to your life. And if your looking to find a mentor, check out Mentoring online to search for organizations near you that offering formal mentoring.

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Countdown to CHILL

It’s 2008, and that means that this is the year that my new book for teen girls, CHILL: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You comes out! Chill is full of strategies for de-stressing when it comes to school, friendships, extracurricular activities, family stuff, and life in general.

As I mentioned on my blog last year, if you write for your school newspaper or review YA books for your blog or other organization, send me an and I’ll send you a review copy as soon as I get them!

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2008 Resolutions

I couldn’t send out the first Smart Girls Know update of 2008 without mentioning New Years Resolutions. While I try to create new resolutions for myself everyday no matter what month it is, I thought I’d share with you some of my goals for the coming year. (Did I mention that I have a feeling it’s going to be a GREAT year?). Here they are:

• Go to sleep at a reasonable hour every night
• Continue trying to create balance
• See more movies
• Watch less reality TV
• Be more thankful
• Eat less meat
• Reduce my carbon footprint
• Read more books
• Have more patience
• Be more compassionate
• Go to the Jersey Shore (random I know, but still)
• Keep running regularly
• Be a good friend
• Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy

Have you come up with some powerful resolutions for the coming year? Send me an with your top goals for 2008, and I’ll post a compilation of readers resolutions here soon (anonymously, of course!).