cover image Talk with Her: A Dad’s Essential Guide to Raising Healthy, Confident, and Capable Daughters

Talk with Her: A Dad’s Essential Guide to Raising Healthy, Confident, and Capable Daughters

Kimberly Wolf. Penguin Life, $18 trade paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-14-313527-2

“Making a lifelong impact happens one conversation at a time,” writes Wolf, an education consultant, in her eminently helpful debut aimed at helping fathers foster positive relationships with their daughters. The bulk of her advice deals with 19 topics pertinent to a teen girl’s development, among them body positivity (encourage them to “nourish yourself from the inside out”), gender and sexual identity (“make sure she knows that she is loved and supported”), friendship (“Don’t tell your daughter she ‘needs to be friends with everyone’ ”), sexual health (“Not everyone is having sex”), college selection (“focus on fit”), and financial literacy (“Talk to your daughter about money early”). In each section, Wolf offers an explainer, goals, talking points, and lists of what to say (plus what not to say). Other highlights include a rundown of strategies to level-up important conversations, including not multitasking while talking, while a q&a chapter features worries from real-world dads: “How can I stay connected to my daughter if I don’t live with her,” for example, and “Is there a right time to get a divorce?” This is essential reading for dads looking to help their daughters successfully navigate some turbulent years. Agent: Laurie Abkemeier, DeFiore & Co. (May)