I was so proud to be contacted for the opportunity to read and review The Secret Keeper Girl Series. I had never heard of this series, and in case you haven’t let me first give you a general summary of what is a “Secret Keeper Girl.” According to the Secret Keeper girl website,

A Secret Keeper Girl values modesty, she surrounds herself with wise friends and she embraces Godly beauty. But, the most important thing for you to know is that a Secret Keeper Girl is a masterpiece created by God.

Best-selling author, Dannah Gresh, has developed this series for mom’s and tween daughters to encourage bonding and also give young girls confidence in themselves at a time in their life when they seem to be the most insecure. The goal of this program is for mom’s and daughter’s to talk about the issues (particularly issues surrounding sexual activity) that these girls will face before their friends and the media get to them.

“8 Great Dates for You and Your Daughter” is a book that has a collection of activities for moms and daughters to do to form connections. This is a time when girls are developing their own lives and becoming more independent. If we aren’t careful, we lose that close bond and they begin to turn to others for advice. By scheduling special “dates” for just the two of you, you help to not only sustain but to develop that relationship between mother and daughter so that in times of indecisiveness, your daughter will turn to you for your words of wisdom.

To supplement “8 Great Dates,” Gresh has published four fiction books that feature a group of middle school friends going through problems that our daughters are (or soon will be)facing. The books are meant to be read by both mother and daughter and then discussed so that communication lines are open and subjects that are sometimes hard to broach are now easier. These are the four books that Cameron and I were given to read and review.

Cameron is on the lower end of the recommended ages for the Secret Keeper Girl book series, but she was excited about reading them from the beginning because the covers were bright and cheerful. I laid out the 4 book series and let her pick the order that she wanted to read the books. We started with, Danika’s Totally Terrible Toss. I had glanced at the books and thought they looked on a level that she could follow, but to be sure, we started Danika’s book together. For the most part she read each book to me. We stopped at the end of each chapter, and it was soon obvious to me that while the content was not necessarily what she was going through, she was following the story with ease. After that, we read the books together at times, but if she wanted to read on her own while I was busy, I let her. Our rule was just that she couldn’t read more than a chapter without coming and talking to me about what happened. (I made sure to actually preread the books so that I would know what was going on and could explain anything she wasn’t sure about and ask the “right” questions.)

I was impressed at the topics covered in each book, but also with the care that was put into them. As I mentioned previously, while the characters are in junior high/middle school and Cameron is only in third grade, parts of the stories were situations that really didn’t apply to her life yet, but because the reading level was age appropriate, she was able to follow the stories with ease. I also think that the bright and cheerful colors are great as they are successful in getting young girls’ attention and that is necessary or they aren’t excited from the beginning. Care was also put into the layout of the book pages. Every page has a border, the pages are not black and white but instead the borders and words are colors like blue, green, and pinkish/purple. In addition, there are a few pictures mixed in here and there which I think really help with the younger girls (like Cameron) that are reading the books. Finally I like that the girls (characters) are “different.”

They are not one race or have one color hair. We have different races, an athlete and a studious girl. Some of the girls wear skirts, some wear jeans. Some are in tennis shoes, some in sandals, and some in a dressier shoe. Why does this matter? Our girls try so hard to fit in with their peers that I really thought the choice to make each girl her own individual self is a great message to send to our daughters.

And finally are the issues of the books. Each issue was very relevant to the tween’s life and started some great conversations between myself and Cameron.

• Toni is the athlete, and her story is told in “T” is for Antonia. She’s one of those girls who has grown quickly so she is actually more of an athlete than most of the boys in her class. Toni loves football and wants to play on the school’s team, but she’s not allowed according to school rules. She faces the dilemma of what to do with her ability – does she become “girly,” or does she pretend to be a boy and join the football team? Both of these would require her to change who she is. Ultimately (after detention time with 3 other girls) Toni (thanks to the Secret Keeper Girl Club) embraces who she is and learns that she’s just the way God wanted her to be.
• In “Just Call Me Kate”, we learn about Kate who has found the world of girl/boy relationships and has a crush on Zachary, her older brother’s best friend. Being new at such feelings, she’s not really quite sure how to handle them and makes the mistake of placing graffiti on the bathroom wall proclaiming her adoration. Unfortunately for her, the principal recognizes her handwriting and sends Kate to detention. Lucky for her Toni, Yuzi, and Danika are there and with their help, she figures out that she needs to control her feelings (and The Secret Keeper Girl Club is formed).
• “Yuzi’s False Alarm” tells the story of Yuzi. She is the new student. (This hit close to home as Cameron was the new student last year). Yuzi has a hard time as she’s not only the new student – she’s always the new student. Being new combined with her having an “odd” last name makes her move to Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School. In fact, she quickly ends up in trouble and is sent to detention. There she meets Toni, Danika, and Kate and with the help of her three new friends, she begins to be herself and be accepted at her school.
• Danika was the first girl we met in the Secret Keeper Girl Club when we read “Danika’s Totally Terrible Toss.” She is the “popular girl.” She seems to have everything – the money to buy things and all the friends she wants. But then she has a bad day and everything that can go wrong does. In fact, things go from bad to worse and then she ends up in trouble. Then she has the chance to bond with Toni, Kate, and Yuzi and she learns that there just might be more than life than material things. Through this knowledge, Danika actually learns who she is and who she wants to be.

I think that I’ll be sure to keep these books and read them again as Cameron goes into 5th grade (that’s when our students move to “middle school”).

So what did Cameron think? First, I think I should point out that the first thing she wanted to know was when the “next” book would be out. She wanted to read more about these four girls. Second, she commented that she wanted the books to be numbered because she didn’t know which one to read first. Now I recognize that this didn’t really matter, but in her mind, books that go together are numbered. Finally, I asked her which book was her favorite, and she replied that she liked “T” is for Antonia the best. Cameron also enjoys sports so I think that is why this one really appealed to her.

If you have young girls in their tweens or girls quickly approaching those tween years, I think you’ll find the concepts behind Dannah Greshs’s Secret Keeper Girl Series amazing and your daughter will enjoy reading them.

There’s more to the Secret Keeper Girls than books too. There’s a great interactive website that has information for moms and daughters at www.secretkeepergirl.com as well as something I’m really looking forward to – the Secret Keeper Girl Tour. The tour will premier in Nashville and then travel to 60 cities nationwide (you can find locations and more details at the website). While it doesn’t look like they will be really close to me, there are a few within 2 to 3 hours of us and I’m hoping we’ll be able to attend.