This guide for girls and young women ages thirteen to twenty-one tears down the negative images presented in various media of African American youth and young adults.

While it's intended to be read with an adult mentor, it can also be used by individuals who want to grow and develop on their own.

If you're a young female, you'll engage in fun activities, including:

• Listen to Stevie Wonder's song "Isn't She Lovely," and then, using the letters of "lovely," write a meaning for each letter to describe what is lovely about you.

• Read the poems "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes and "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou, and explain how encouragement is defined in each poem.

• Read "10 Challenges That American Women Still Face Today" on the Ms. magazine website, and list three challenges you face now or are likely to face in the future.

You'll also learn how journal writing can be an appropriate strategy for problem solving when "talking it out" with a friend, parent, or other adult doesn't seem possible.

Change the way you look at yourself, others, and life with A Ninety-Day Empowerment Journal for Young Women.