Reviving Ophelia 25th Anniversary Edition

Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

By: Mary Pipher, Sara Gilliam

Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed

Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

The 25th anniversary edition of the iconic book, revised and updated for 21st-century adolescent girls and their families.

In 1994, Reviving Ophelia was published, and it shone a much-needed spotlight on the problems faced by adolescent girls. The book became iconic and helped to reframe the national conversation about what author Mary Pipher called "a girl-poisoning culture" surrounding adolescents. Fast forward to today, and adolescent girls and the parents, teachers, and counselors who care about them find themselves confronting many of the same challenges Pipher wrote about originally as well as new ones specific to today.

Girls still struggle with misogyny, sexism, and issues of identity and self-esteem. But they're also more isolated than ever before: They don't talk face-to-face to the people around them, including their peers, as they used to: They're texting or on social media for hours at a time. And while girls today are less likely to be in trouble for their drinking or sexual behavior, they have a greater chance of becoming depressed, anxious, or suicidal.

In this revised and updated Reviving Ophelia, Pipher and her daughter, Sara Pipher Gilliam (who was a teenager at the time of the book's original publication), have incorporated these new issues for a 21st-century listenership. In addition to examining the impact that social media has on adolescent girls' lives today, Pipher and Gilliam explore the rising and empowering importance of student activism in girls' lives, the wider acceptance of diverse communities among young people, and the growing disparities between urban and rural, rich and poor, and how they can affect young girls' sense of self-worth. With a new foreword and afterword and chapters that explore these topics, this new edition of Reviving Ophelia builds on the relevance of the original as it provides key insights into the challenges and opportunities facing adolescent girls today.

The approach Pipher and Gilliam take in the new edition is just what it was in the original: a timely, listenable combination of insightful research and real-world examples that illuminate the challenges young women face and the ways to address them. This updated Reviving Ophelia looks at 21st century adolescent girls through fresh eyes, with insights and ideas that will help new generations of listeners.

©2019 Mary Pipher and Sara Gilliam (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Reviving Ophelia is a cultural touchstone and...[this] revamp carries the air of a cultural artifact.” (NPR)

“An important book.... Pipher shines high-beam headlights on the world of teenage girls.” (Los Angeles Times)

“So, yeah, I’d say the new version of Reviving Ophelia? Pretty damn important read, even 25 years later. Maybe especially 25 years later.” (BookRiot)

Update awesome and RELEVANT!

Loved this and so happy I found the updated edition! Insightful and hopeful and beautifully attuned to the teenage girls of today and always!

overwhelming, awesome, and crucial for all

overwhelming, awesome, and crucial for all. We all engage adolescent girls and women every day. This book is so easy to understand and covers most issues challenging our girls today.

Great book

This book made me see things in a different light. How we can help young girls and young women become strong independent women and fight back against sexism and misogyny

engaging

Loved it and could relate. Some of it in cited anxiety and fear., but also empathy.

Interesting stories and good advice without being pushy

I liked the three generation comparison she seems like a great therapist and the stories were interesting.

An eye opener for parents

I really enjoyed listening to this book.
Meg Reid conveyed perfectly all the colors of emotions of the teen girls participating in this books becoming. Being the mon of a girl who’s opening her wings to the world, the authors pinpointed exactly what to watch out for when guiding my daughter in becoming a well grounded woman. This book is screaming that it’s never too late to turn things around and to help our girls turn on the path of self appreciation which leads them in the right direction to discover their strength and focus on their gifts and talents to fulfill their lives purpose.

A must read for everyone raising girls today

Positive and insightful. Explores the impact of these difficult and confusing times on girls growing up in America today. Demonstrates helpful responses to difficult problems through case studies. Gives parents a heads up on what they may encounter. Though specifically discussing case studies with girls, a lot actually applies to boys as well

A great tome on adolescence currently & times past

This writer uses anecdotes, of challenges facing the young people, especially adolescent girls, in modern day. The Anecdotes are detailed, multifaceted & illustrate the author's points well. A plus is the comparison, of the challenges adolescents faced 20 to 30 years ago, to the challenges of today. This is a useful, practical, book. The narrator is also an outstanding voice performer.

Surprisingly revelevent and truly insightful

I found this book to be very informative about female struggles both in the past and today. I felt the authors did a stunning job of collecting a diverse set of experiences and provided excellent cross examination of the generations of struggles adolescents face. Their ability to provide stories representative of many view points and provide insightful thoughts to consider helped me find answers to questions I've asked myself for years. Plus they did this while not jumping to broad conclusions or providing unfounded cureall instructions. Refreshing!

Wish I had read this in 1986!

Terrific guide to understanding the angst of growing up......especially from perspective of 1950s, 1990s and today's culture. I am 77, my daughters are 48 and 47, my granddaughters are 13 and 8. I have given this book to my daughter and her husband..parents of the girls. Again, Thankyou Mary Pipher.