If you have a daughter, In Your Face is a must-buy.

My publisher sent me a copy. For me. You know, for me to read. But ten-year-old Silence skulked away with it before I even cracked the spine. She loved it. (She finished it in 24 hours, so I at least got it back quickly.)

Now that I’ve perused it myself, I’ve decided we both have to read it once a year for the next decade. The book covers everything from the Disney princess indoctrination of preschoolers to ideal breast shapes through the ages. As the mother of a half-Burmese girl who already complains that her body is different from that of her friends’, I particularly appreciated the chapter on cultural views of beauty.

Plus, the book is funny. Pointed, but still funny. It is not at all like having your mother lecture you about feminism.

Not that this will stop me from lecturing. I loved Vikki VanSickle’s latest post about the Bechdel test, so maybe I will harp on movie imagery next…