You Are Wonderfully Made

The teen years are challenging ones in an individual's development, especially for girls. The teen years are pivotal as those are the years when girls can either get tripped up -- by making huge mistakes -- or move up -- by excelling academically. Black teen girls in particular often experience even greater challenges because of the negative messages, labels, and images perpetuated by media, music videos, and popular culture. Rather than boost the confidence of black teen girls, these negative messages can adversely affect their self-esteem and their concept of self-worth. Low self-esteem can ultimately lead them to internalize these negative labels and make a series of bad choices. By embracing these labels, negative outcomes become a self-fulfilling prophecy for far too many black teen girls. But black teen girls have the power to reject these negative labels and embrace positive ones. You Are Wonderfully Made: 12 Life-Changing Principles for Teen Girls to Embrace empowers black teen girls with the tools they need to successfully navigate their teen years and avoid the pitfalls that can derail their futures. The book's title is based loosely on the biblical scripture in Psalm 139:14: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." However, the twelve universal principles in this book are not exclusive for those of the Christian faith nor are they only for black teenagers. They can be adopted by any teen girl, regardless of her family background, economic status, ethnicity, or educational achievement level. Each chapter includes a list of exercises and action steps teen girls can utilize to assist them with adopting these principles.