First published in hardback in autumn 2002, this groundbreaking work has been accelerated into a popular paperback edition by force of demand. Dirty looks and taunting notes are just two examples of girl bullying that girls and women have long suffered through silently and painfully. In Odd Girl Out Rachel Simmons shows girls, parents, counsellors, and teachers how to deal with this devastating problem.

Reviews

Although more than 16 years have passed, Rhodes Scholar Simmons hasn't forgotten how she felt when Abby told the other girls in third grade not to play with her, nor has she stopped thinking about her own role in giving Noa the silent treatment. Simmons examines how such "alternative aggression" where girls use their relationship with the victim as a weapon flourishes and its harmful effects. Through interviews with more than 300 girls in 10 schools (in two urban areas and a small town), as well as 50 women who experienced alternative aggression when they were young, Simmons offers a detailed portrait of girls' bullying. Citing the work of Carol Gilligan and Lyn Mikel Brown, she shows the toll that alternative aggression can take on girls' self-esteem. For Simmons, the restraints that society imposes to prevent girls from venting feelings of competition, jealousy and anger is largely to blame for this type of bullying. It forces girls to turn their lives into "a perverse game of Twister," where their only outlets for expressing negative feelings are covert looks, turned backs and whispers. Since the events at Columbine, some schools have taken steps to curb relational aggression. For those that haven't, Simmons makes an impassioned plea that no form of bullying be permitted. (Apr. 30) Forecast: This subject has received much media attention lately, with a New York Times Magazine cover story two months ago and the March publication of Emily White's Fast Girls (Forecasts, Feb. 25). Rosalind Wiseman will join the crowd next month, with Queen Bees and Wannabes (Forecasts, Apr. 1), about helping girls survive adolescence. All this coverage will only help Simmons's book. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Praise for ODD GIRL OUT

"There has not been so much interest in young females since psychologist Mary Pipher chronicled anorexics and suicide victims in her 1994 bestseller, "Reviving Ophelia"."--"The Washington Post"

"Provocative . . . Cathartic to any teen or parent trying to find company . . . it will sound depressingly familiar to any girl with a pulse."--"Detroit Free Press"

"Encourages girls to address one another when they feel angry or jealous, rather than engage in the rumor mill."--"Chicago Tribune"

"Peels away the smiley surfaces of adolescent female society to expose one of girlhood's dark secrets: the vicious psychological warfare waged every day in the halls of our . . . schools."--"San Francisco Chronicle "