Over the Moon

Remember the Nancy Gruver quote about pursuing our dreams? That article of hers that held that quote was a game-changer for me.  It also prompted me to buy my middle schooler a subscription to Gruver's magazine, New Moon.

And now, shameless promotion time.  This is the BEST magazine ever.  Seriously, if you have a daughter ages 8 - 14 or whenever they think they've outgrown it, check it out! Middle schoolers are hard-to-please, first of all, and my daughter LOVES it.  She especially loves the online world of New Moon.  She has met girls from all over the world who have things in common with her such as "aspiring photographer," "violinist," "has a cute dog," and "favorite author is Sharon Creech." Secondly, it is wholesome and inspires creativity and connections and growth and thinking and everything that girls' magazines do not do.  It promotes healthy self-image, and diversity. The articles have substance. It encourages the girls to share their own work  - stories, poems, essays, photos, artwork, ideas, etc.  The content is mostly made up of submissions by the girls.  Girls writing to each other.

It's all adult supervised as well.  Anytime my kiddo submits anything or makes a new connection, I get a heads-up e-mail from the moms monitoring the site.  I have to give my permission for her to get into any chat room or post anything remotely personal - even for her to get to the pages. It has to be the safest place on the Web for young girls. It's got my 12 and a half year old creating and writing all on her own, not to mention having interesting conversations with me.

If there is a young girl in your life you're looking for a gift for, here's your great idea. Or if you want to be encouraged that the world has not gone to hell in a hand basket and that there are still girls out there growing up lovely and strong with a publication that supports them in this, check it out too.  It's inspiring.