The Wonder of Girls: Understanding the Hidden Nature of Our Daughters
by
Michael Gurian © 2002

Gurian's The Wonder of Boys  was one of the first books to explore why men and boys act the way they do. Here, the therapist and father of two daughters expands on the research begun in his Boys and Girls Learn Differently to consider how human nature drives the biological and personal growth of girls. Gurian rejects both so-called traditionalism and radical feminism, showing instead that parents must understand the crucial role that intimacy and biology play in girls' lives. This is a different approach from that of Mary Pipher's best-selling Reviving Ophelia, which argued that society crushes girls' wills and manipulates their moods. "Not so!" claims Gurian. Parents must teach their daughters to trust (not condemn) men and to make wise decisions in marriage and childbearing. Wonder includes new research on the clear differences between female and male brains in adolescence, as in their different abilities to verbalize emotions and in the varieties in blood flow through the brain.  LIBRARY JOURNAL

CHAPTER ONE... by Michael Gurian
Beginning Our Search: A New Logic of Girls Life
On a sunny day in June, I took my daughters to Manito Park, our neighborhood play area. Gabrielle was seven and Davita four. Beyond the normal swings and slides, the girls always enjoyed a sculpture there, built from logs and shaped like a Viking ship. On this particular day, we arrived early, and the girls, who had brought some of their stuffed animals, began to play a game involving two mothers caring for children on an ocean voyage. I offered to be part of the game if they wanted me, but then, as they enjoyed their "girl world" without me, I settled into a book on a bench at the periphery.
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GUEST ARTICLE... by Michael Gurian
A New Social Theory
In a number of my books, I have briefly mentioned this new theory.  In BOYS AND GIRLS LEARN DIFFERENTLY!, for instance, it is identified as "brain-based theory," and in THE WONDER OF GIRLS as "nature-based parenting."  In a future book, it will be fully delineated as "nature-based theory."  What is this theory?  Can we talk about it in a nutshell?
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GUEST ARTICLE... by Glenn J. Sacks
Why Men Don't Go to College
As the percentage of males on our college campuses continues to decline, many observers are finally beginning to ask questions. Much of the discussion has focused on the fact that boys at all levels K-12 have fallen seriously behind their female counterparts, and how our schools are not meeting boys' needs. This discussion of males' educational problems—particularly the problems of low-income and minority males—is long overdue, and boys' sagging educational performance is one of the main reasons for the increasing disappearance of male students from our college campuses.
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JEFF'S LIFE... monthly column by Jeff Stimpson
Great Pumpkins
The Sunday before Halloween, I'm even sicker than normal of another rerun of "CinderElmo" and I decide it's time Alex and Ned broaden their horizons. I reach for the orange video box on my bookshelf. "Now this isn't Elmo," I warn them, mostly Alex.
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COYOTE... monthly column by Dick Prosapio
In a Fog
She left the same way she came back, her clothes stuffed into black garbage bags. The look on her face was different this time though. When our run-away daughter came home, a year and a half ago, she look scared and a little relieved. Scared of my, and ultimately, our reception to her coming back into the family after a year of no contact and one aborted "rescue" attempt. (We had gotten the word through her girlfriends that she couldn't get out of her situation with her gangster boyfriend. We sent police on a look-see. She didn't want to leave.) Relieved, as it turned out, to be able to eat real food again and to not be living day-to-day expecting a narcotics bust.
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The Gift of Receiving
You're busy checking off the items on your to-do list. Some of your gifts have been wrapped, and the holiday cards made it to the post office this morning. Oh, but you forgot to clear your calendar for your daughter's school festival! And what to take to your boss's annual Christmas Eve get together? And you've still got to help with the decorations for the Rotary Club Santa night.
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