Raising Awareness
I doubt there is anyone who hasn't realized yet that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. On television, on the internet, in fundrasing efforts and in advertisements, it seems like the country has turned pink in an effort to show support. Despite all this "Awareness" I haven't seen much in the way of educational information though, at least not until I found this new book: Taking Care of Your "Girls": a Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens.

Stories from real teens
Even though I'm not a teenager anymore, I still picked up tons of great information from reading this book. The book was written by a breast doctor mom and her teen daughter. Each chapter also includes quotes from real teen girls, so the book reflects a huge range of personal experiences. As if puberty wasn't confusing and scary enough, breast development happens differently for each person. The teen author asks the question in her introduction "how can you know you're normal when every other girl and woman around you have breasts that look different from yours?"

What's inside
The first part of the book contains fun, easy-to-understand, reliable, meaningful information about breast development, size and shape, normal changes and variations. Part two focused on how to take care of your breasts, including self image about your body, choosing and wearing bras, dressing with confidence, plastic surgery, facts and fears about breast cancer, and health and nutrition information. The back of the book offers additional resources for more information. At the end of every chapter, readers are invited to share their own stories on the topic at http://www.takingcareofyourgirls.com/.

Video interview
The mother and daughter author duo also appeared on ABC news in September to promote their book. You can watch the segment for a 5 minute video teaser about the book.