New Blog: PS Petals Place

I'm so excited that my new blog is up and running! PS Petals Place (pspetalsplace.com) is a blog devoted to keeping body positive content in front of tween and teen curvy girls...who I like to call "Petals!"


With topics ranging from dating to parents to fashion/beauty, PS Petals Place offers quality content and opportunities to vent in a safe and supportive environment online.

This month's Petal Spotlight is Zoe Robinson from Friday Night Tykes (Esquire Network). I had the pleasure of speaking with her and her mother and I know her story will be an inspiration to many young girls her age. Honestly, she inspired me to "expect the unexpected!"

My favorite feature of the blog is the Self-Confidence & Esteem page. This page will gather articles from around the interwebs that will help build self-love and encourage young girls to embrace their curves while committing to fitness and wellness. We'll also tackle the difficult subject of bullying and how to cope in addition to providing hotline information in the case of a crisis.

Spread the word to young girls...Petals...you know who would benefit from taking checking out pspetalsplace.com --the place where you are more than a number on a scale. I really wish that there was something like this for me when I was a tween/teen and that's why I'm committed to providing this service to today's generation of curvy girls...Petals!!!

Book Review: The Fashion Disaster That Changed My Life by Lauren Myracle

The Fashion Disaster That Changed My Life by Lauren Myracle 
(Penguin Group)

Smack dab in the middle of the worst years of her life: Middle School, Allison a 7th grader has to deal with figuring it ALL out. Between friendships, crushes, and the all consuming pursuit to be popular, she is deeply entrenched in a preteen's complicated world! With that said, while I was reading, I thought back to my days of teaching 7th grade and even further back to my days of actually experiencing that horrid era of existence. It is an excruciating time of self discovery and unwarranted input from peers. This book captures this pain and confusion very well and is entertaining to boot.

NOW FOR THE BAD PART: The book is inappropriate for a girl of middle school age. Some of the language, sexual innuendo, and subject matter will add fuel to the already hormone-induced curiosity fire raging in tweens. Furthermore, some of the language, while common with that age set, shouldn't be promoted as acceptable. The delicate balance is what was so awesome about Clueless. The language could have been way more vulgar to portray popular nineties parlance, but Amy Heckerling avoided vulgarity while capturing the vernacular authentically. Any time a book aimed toward ages 10 and up (the suggested age on the book) uses the term "ménage à troi," you know you've got to shelve the book until the reader is 14, if then.  Well written? Yes! Entertaining? Yes!  Too mature for the suggested reader? Definitely!

If she had just framed The Fashion Disaster That Changed My Life as being recalled by a high schooler, summed up with a successful update at the end (e.g., Allison and Meagan are going to the same college in the fall or Rachel wasn't prom queen, Mika was), teenagers 14 and up would more readily go for the middle school plot. It's a fun read, but just too mature for the intended audience.

Moral of the story: Parents, you may just have to read/skim books before you allow your kids to read them. Just because it's at a book fair or in the library doesn't mean that it is acceptable for all children.