Thinking Parents' Book Group

March 2012 Pick: Internationally renowned family consultant Kim John Payne helps parents reclaim for their children the space and freedom that all kids need, allowing their children's attention to focus and their individuality to flourish.

November 2011 Selection: In this groundbreaking collaboration, award-winning science journalists Bronson and Merryman argue that when it comes to children, good intentions have been mistaken for good ideas. They demonstrate that many of modern society's strategies for nurturing children are in fact backfiring.

September 2011 Selection: The acclaimed author of the groundbreaking bestseller "Schoolgirls" reveals the dark side of pink and pretty: the rise of the girlie-girl, she warns, is not that innocent. Pink and pretty or predatory and hardened, sexualized girlhood influences our daughters from infancy onward, telling them that how a girl looks matters more than who she is. Somewhere between the exhilarating rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and today, the pursuit of physical perfection has been recast as a source--"the" source--of female empowerment. And commercialization has spread the message faster and farther, reaching girls at ever-younger ages. But, realistically, how many times can you say no when your daughter begs for a pint-size wedding gown or the latest Hannah Montana CD? And how dangerous is pink and pretty anyway--especially given girls' successes in the classroom and on the playing field? Being a princess is just make-believe, after all; eventually they grow out of it. Or do they? Does playing Cinderella shield girls from early sexualization--or prime them for it? Could today's little princess become tomorrow's sexting teen? And what if she does? Would that make her in charge of her sexuality--or an unwitting captive to it?