Girls' life top 10 - Bibliography

Girls' Life, August-Sept, 2003

See

FREAKY FRIDAY

Here's an updated version of the Disney classic in which mother and daughter each finds herself in the other's body for a day. Lindsay Lohan is 15-year-old Anna...er, until she becomes her mom--who's getting married the next day. Yikes! Meanwhile, Mom is trapped in Anna's bod and has to go to school, wail on guitar and hang with the crew. Whew!

SHAOLIN SOCCER

Sing is a shaolin practitioner who's remained faithful to the martial art, even as his friends stray. He teams up with a booty-kicking, soccer-star beauty to ai-yah his misfit buds back into shape and kick both sports through the roof. This is a very wise viewing choice, grasshopper. Now...wax on, wax off.

UPTOWN CURLS

Good golly...Miss Molly is a free-spirited spoiled-brat rich chick, who's just gone bust. As in, broke...destitute...penniless. So she has to join the working class. She gets a gig as a little girl's nanny--and learns what it really means to work it.

GRIND

High school graduation--yes! So, now what? For Eric Rivers, it means hitting the road with his posse to pursue their dream of breaking into professional skateboarding. Road trip! The guys (and skater girl Jamie) hit the streets to form their own skate team. The best reason to go see this movie? Two full hours to gaze at larger-than-life images of hottie Mike Vogel in the role of Eric.

Play

Whyville? Why not?

Imagine living where you can choose how you look, meet people from all over the world and make bucks by playing games! Don't load the moving van yet--just sign up to be a citizen of Whyville at www.whyville.net. Whyville citizens learn and earn by going on treasure hunts, creating dance steps, searching for aliens and more. The more games you play, the more "clams" (Whyville money) you make. Use clams to buy digital fashions to create a unique look for your Whyville self, or save up to build and decorate a house. Best of all, you can chat and make friends online--all in a super-safe cyber environment.

Read

The Whale Rider

by Witi Ihimaera, Harcourt, $8

If you haven't seen the flick, read the book first! Kahu is next in line as chief of the Maori people, but her great-grandfather refuses to acknowledge her birthright because she's a girl. Not even Kahu is aware of the magnitude of her powers (she can communicate with the whales!) nor her destiny.

The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things

by Carolyn Mackler, Candlewick, $15.99

Even though Virginia gets good grades and has a sort-of BF, her 'rents are obsessed with her pants size. This changes when her brother tarnishes his shiny image with something way worse than a few extra pounds. As her bro morphs from rugby-god to bad seed, Virginia learns to revel in who she is.

The Anorexia Diaries

by Linda and Tara Rio, Rodale, $21.95

These are actual mother/daughter journal entries kept during a real-life crisis. Feel firsthand a family torn by anorexia and bulimia. Though Linda is a therapist, she couldn't recognize the nightmare her own daughter was living. Tara, suffering from depression, thought she was gaining control by purging. This powerful book offers hope for anyone dealing with an eating disorder.

Listen

Eve 6, It's All in Your Head

Remember the band that had you wanting to put your "tender heart in a blender and watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion"? Eve 6 is back with its third album since the self-titled debut that spawned the "Inside Out" hit Songs like "Still Here Waiting," "Think Twice" and "At Least We're Dreaming" pack just as much energy and the same witty lyrical ways. If you're anything like us you'll have "Not Gonna Be Alone Tonite" replaying inside your head like a jumprope anthem: "I'm not gonna let you go this time, not gonna be alone tonite. You can try to break me down or start a fight. I'm not gonna be alone tonite."

Ambulance Ltd., self-titled

Run out and spring your allowance on this CD--it's an emergency. Wrap your weary head around tunes like "Stay Where You Are," "Primitive" and "Young Urban." This music kind of reminds us of the oceanfront--those soothing sounds of being on the water's edge, but every now and then a huge, rumbling wave comes crashing down to wake you up and keep you on your toes.