by KeriP-19, 21 June 2008







My Feet Aren’t Ugly is a book just as interesting as the title itself. It is a self-esteem self-help book for girls aged 11 to 16, and as the subtitle says it’s “A Girl’s Guide to Loving Herself from the Inside Out”.

Most of us may cringe at the thought of self-help books, because we expect that all the advice will just be age-old wisdom that adults have nagged teens with for years. Luckily for us, “My Feet Aren’t Ugly” came into the picture and it gives the serious topic of self-esteem a fresh twist..

The book uses a funny and warm tone to highlight the confusing years of adolescence and the difficulties we all face. Although it also explores the temptations of drugs and sex, it focuses mainly on how to maintain a healthy dosage of self-love. Like the book, I think most of us don’t have terribly low self-esteem, but when it comes time to try on new clothes during shopping sprees or when beach season comes rolling around, we all seem to experience a huge deficit of self-love.

We all get our fat-days and bad-hair-days. There are days when I feel like I simply couldn’t walk out the door because what was supposed to be hair settled on top of my head has turned into a bird’s nest. Yet the underlying implication of these self-loathing days is that we do not fully accept and love ourselves for who we are.

According to Beck, it is not only feeling inferior next to girls prettier or more popular than us that gives rise to a low self-esteem; things that we may not look deeply into - such as not finishing a project, or not giving your interests a chance to develop - also affect how we think of ourselves.

"My Feet Aren’t Ugly", gives us more insight into things or bad habits that we may overlook.

What I like most about this book is that it has little activities and empty pages for us to write down what we think or feel. It gives us an immediate place to reflect and really chew on the information given.

After all, a self-help book wouldn’t be self-helping if we cannot relate it to ourselves and the real-life problems we are facing.

Being a teenager is already very mind-boggling; having someone to help us help us on our path is something we can all appreciate and welcome.

..... Stop here Please click here to read Author DEBRA BECK Talks About Her Work and the Importance of Knowing Yourself by Margaret Chen, posted on 20 Dec 2007 Please click here to read SPOTLIGHT ON: Author and Longtime Mentor of Girls, DEBRA BECK ... by Margaret Chen, posted on 22 Dec 2007