Love the book. Was initially ambivalent about its title — Strong is the New Pretty. Although the subtitle — A celebration of girls being themselves — nails it quite nicely.
Author, professional photograper, and former collegiate soccer player Kate T. Parker gives us girls in all their messy, poignant, and tenacious glory. Each of the book’s nine chapters hones in on a quality of a strong girl: confident, wild, resilient, creative, determined, kind, fearless, joyful, independent. The girls’ presence leaps, kicks, laughs and shouts from each page. The color and black & white images might be worth ten thousand words, but it’s the girls’ own words that take my breath away.
“So many things are hard to do but when I smile it seems like I can get through.” Tatiana, age 11, on her mat in an up-dog pose. You’ll never forget her smile.
“I tried to bulldoze my brother but my mom said no.” Syd, 8, seated on her family’s tractor grinning from (g)ear to (g)ear. I hope Mom’s hidden the keys.
“”Even a princess can be a warrior. My cancer didn’t even stand a chance.” Lauren M. 12. photographed in a blue tulle princess dress.
As noted above, I was initially put off by the title. Yes it’s punchy, playing off the current zeitgeist of redefining concepts in terms of something we deem is, or should be, obselete already. “Can’t a girl be strong and pretty?” I wondered. Reading the author’s intro after I read through the book, I realized Parker hadn’t traded one for the other. The nuances of “pretty” are loaded, imbued as they are with a sense of standardized and temporal attractiveness. The author was going after the infinitude of beauty. As a book title, Strong is the New Beautiful was likely too weighty, both visually and linguistically. But for the book itself. Yes, oh yes. Strong is indeed can and should be the new, and forever, beautiful.
One of my favorite photos doesn’t show its subject at all. All we see of eight-year-old Ella is the cuff of her shirt from which extend a tiny hand holding a star-topped wand. On the opposite page Ella states who she is, “I am magic.”
Strong and Pretty itself is pure magic. I’m ordering a copy. I need to hang out for a while with these strong and beautiful girls.