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Peggy Orenstein's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Peggy Orenstein recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Peggy Orenstein's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1
Will their friendship ever be the same?

Horace, Morris, and Dolores have been best friends forever. They do everything together -- from sailing the seven sewers to climbing Mount Ever-Rust. But one day Horace and Morris join the Mega-Mice (no girls allowed), and Dolores joins the Cheese Puffs (no boys allowed). Is this the end? Or will Horace and Morris but mostly Dolores find a way to save the day -- and their friendship?

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Recommended by Peggy Orenstein, and 1 others.

Peggy OrensteinIt presents gender dynamics with more realism than a typical agenda book. It’s about how kids can find common interests that aren’t defined by gender. (Source)

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2
When boys act out, get into fights, or become physically aggressive, we can't avoid noticing their bad behavior. But it is easy to miss the subtle signs of aggression in girls--the dirty looks, the taunting notes, or the exclusion from the group-that send girls home crying.
In "Odd Girl Out," Rachel Simmons focuses on these interactions and provides language for the indirect aggression that runs through the lives and friendships of girls. These exchanges take place within intimate circles--the importance of friends and the fear of losing them is key. Without the cultural consent to...
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Recommended by Peggy Orenstein, and 1 others.

Peggy OrensteinThis looks at relational aggression with girls, which is bullying, basically. It breaks down how adolescent girls relate to one another and why it matters. (Source)

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3
Player. Jock. Slacker. Competitor. Superhero. Goofball. Boys are besieged by images in the media that encourage slacking over studying; competition over teamwork; power over empower - ment; and being cool over being yourself. From cartoons to video games, boys are bombarded with stereotypes about what it means to be a boy, including messages about violence, risktaking, and perfecting an image of just not caring.
Straight from the mouths of over 600 boys surveyed from across the U.S., the authors offer parents a long, hard look at what boys are watch ing, reading, hearing, and doing....
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Recommended by Peggy Orenstein, and 1 others.

Peggy OrensteinThis book talks about how the marketing to boys of a prepackaged vision of masculinity may be unhealthy for our sons. (Source)

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4
Winner of the Books for a Better Life Award

Every parent who cares about empowering her daughter should own a copy."
- Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls

..".a must-read for parents and teachers who want to steer girls away from marketing schemes that distort female power and authority and toward true self-acceptance and authentic empowerment."
-- Polly Young Eisendrath, author of Women and Desire and The Resilient Spirit

The image of girls and girlhood that is being packaged and...
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Recommended by Peggy Orenstein, and 1 others.

Peggy OrensteinThe authors offer the idea that girls are presented with two options by the culture that surrounds them: being for the boys or being one of the boys. (Source)

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5
In the past decade, we've heard a lot about the innate differences between males and females. As a result, we've come to accept that boys can't focus in a classroom and girls are obsessed with relationships. That's just the way they're built. In Pink Brain Blue Brain, neuroscientist Lise Eliot turns that thinking on its head. Based on years of exhaustive research and her own work in the new field of plasticity, Eliot argues that infant brains are so malleable that a few small differences at birth become amplified over time, as parents and teachers—and the culture at... more
Recommended by Peggy Orenstein, and 1 others.

Peggy OrensteinThis book was transformative for me. If we allow hyper gender differentiation the small differences between boys and girls at birth become big gaps. (Source)

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