Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence

Forget the stereotype of sugar and spice. Girls are mean. From the author of DEFENDING OURSELVES: PREVENTION, SELF-DEFENSE, AND RECOVERY FROM RAPE, comes a guide to the adolescent girl's landscape and how to survive it. Helping parents understand their daughter's friendships, the power hierarchy within cliques (which includes such roles as the Queen Bee, Sidekick, Torn Bystander, Messenger, and Target), Wiseman offers much needed advice on both what to do to help your daughter and how to talk to her ( Don't use slang your daughter uses). She addresses such topics as boys, sex, and drugs as well as what to do if your daughter needs professional help. Each chapter has a Check Your Baggage section, which challenges parents to recognize their own biases and remember their own experience with adolescence.