Reviews

THE MOTHER DAUGHTER CIRCLE – MAKING LIFELONG CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR TEENAGER by CELIA STRAUS, BALLANTINE, April 2003

The Mother-Daughter Circle breaks new ground in the marketplace of parenting tools through an inspiring blend of parenting wisdom, shared experiences and informal story-telling by everyone involved, including the reader.

Prize-winning writer Celia Straus, herself the mother of two teenage girls, offers a wealth of personal experiences and insights along with those of parenting experts and dozens of other mothers and girls. Celia addresses mothers directly with warmth and humor, encouraging them, literally, to use the book as a connection.

For example, in her chapter entitled, “Connecting With Acceptance,” Celia tells how she often struggles to accept her daughters for who they are and not who she wants them to be. She then invites the reader to share with her daughter an example of her own search for acceptance as a teenager, and then an example of how she recognizes and accepts her daughter’s unique identity. In this way, mothers share their own experiences with their daughters.

Once the reader personalizes the book with her own thoughts, hopes, and stories, she can make a gift of the book to her daughter. In doing so, she creates a unique and lasting bond that her daughter will treasure, knowing it came from the most important woman in her life. In this way, The Mother-Daughter Circle offers mothers a unique opportunity to connect with their daughters, and with themselves.

10 PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL PARENTING by MIMI DOE, Perennial; (August 1998)

This mother-daughter team offers practical advice for parents who wish to bring more spirituality into their parenting as well as their children's day-to-day life. Parents, regardless of whether they belong to an organized religion or not, report that the book has been profoundly inspirational. Each chapter is devoted to 1 of the 10 principles of spiritual parenting and includes ruminations as well as specific suggestions. The writing is fluid, well organized, and filled with respect for parents and their children. In the chapter titled "Create a Flexible Structure," suggestions include: provide daily quiet time, downshift into your child's rhythms rather than always imposing your own, and try not to get caught up in the competitive rush to sign up, join in, and push harder to give your child a leg up on other kids.
--Gail Hudson

LOVING YOUR TEENAGE DAUGHTER (WHETHER SHE LIKES IT OR NOT )
by DR. DEBRA WHITING ALEXANDER New Harbinger Pubns; November 9, 2001

As hormones kick in and social pressures increase, daughters are often ambivalent about their relationships with their mothers: they demand more independence one minute while needing nurturing the next. Mothers, unsure how to respond, may find themselves reacting with an array of negative emotions: anger, defensiveness, depression. Psychologist and mother Debra Whiting Alexander offers real-world solutions to the age-old problem of maintaining the delicate balance of this relationship. Drawing on detailed interviews, she offers specific strategies for handling conflicts and power struggles, bolstering a daughter's self-esteem, and coping with problems. Alexander uses sample dialogues, exercises, and activities to take the terror out of talking about such loaded topics as dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and drugs and alcohol.

Endorsements for Mother Daughter Circle

"Celia Straus work is ground-breaking. It seeks to introduce girls to their most authentic selves. Moms and daughters who follow Celia's guidelines will learn to create a rich, loving, real relationship that can last a lifetime.
-Susan Piver Browne, Author of The Hard Question

"Celia Strauss has done it again - given us another gift to enhance our mother daughter bonds, bonds of love, emotional and spiritual,sacred bonds. An additional gift emerges when we realize that not only will our mother-daughter relationship be expanded through improved communication and connections, but also we achieve enhanced connection with our individual inner selves."
-Marilyn Hughes Gaston,M.D. Co-Author "PrimeTime:The African American Woman's Complete Guide to Midlife Health & Wellness", Co-Director, Gaston & Porter Health Improvement Center

"If you didn't learn how to mother from your mother, learn from Celia Straus. She understandsthe needs of our youngest women in a deep and profound way."
-Robin Rice, Author, A Hundred Ways to Sunday

"The Mother Daughter Circle, like Prayers On My Pillow, is filled with heart warming stories accompanied by many welcome insights and wisdom. This book is an invitation for all mothers and their teenage daughters to experience the value of sharing and acceptance. As a mother-daughter psychotherapist team ourselves, we know how important it is to keep connections through the powerful teenage years. When this happens mothers and daughters are able to become adult friends and allies, connected by a bond of love and respect.May all women draw their circles large enough to include their mothers and daughters and in so doing may each woman and soon to be woman become their best selves. Celia Straus gives us all a boost in that direction."
-Julie and Dorothy Firman, coauthors of Daughters and Mothers, Healing the Relationship and Chicken Soup for the Mother and Daughter Soul."

"The Mother Daughter Circle is one of the most generous, joyful and above all, human books on parenting I have ever read. By making it possible for mothers to write in the book and then give it to their daughters, Celia Straus gives us the chance to be as wise and loving as she is. As the mother of a thirteen year old, I cannot thank her enough." Judith Ivey, Two time Tony award winning actress

"Celia Straus's The Mother-Daughter Circle is a rare and touching book, one that acknowledges the daunting complexity of the parent-adolescent bond, while still providing hope, inspiration, and direction for mothers and their daughters. The author's capacity to blend real-life experience with timeless wisdom will serve to help both parent and child to navigate this rich and wondrous time while keeping their sanity, and their souls, intact."
-Brad Sachs, Ph.D.,Author, The Good Enough Child: How to Have an Imperfect Family and be Perfectly Satisfied

"Celia Straus has given mothers, and the daughters they love, a beautiful tool to grow even closer with her new book, The Mother-Daughter Circle. The exercises and ideas in this lovely little missive are wonderful prompts to strengthen the sacred connection between mother and daughter. Celia generously shares her own mothering stories as well as prayer/poems that cut to the essence of the typical teen's struggle. Buy this book for your daughter. Girls, buy this book for your Mom!"
-Mimi Doe, Author of "Busy but Balanced" and "10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting" and founder of www.SpiritualParenting.com

"Much has been written about effective communcation between mothers and
daughters but seldom do authors focus on the everyday circumstances in which
real change is possible. Until now.Finding a way for mothers to relate effectively to daughters is a criticalchallenge for each generation.This book provides one approach to that challenge well worth considering."
-Robyn Wiegman Margaret Taylor Smith, Director of Women's Studies Duke University

"The parent/child bond is one of the most profound of human experiences, and when a child reaches adolescence - certainly one of the most difficult. My work with adolescents shows that the teenage years are often characterized by feelings of alienation and isolation. The Mother Daughter Circle is a beautifully illustrated book in which Celia Straus weaves her own spiritual journey as a mother with poems and intimate stories shared by other mothers and daughters. By inviting to reader to personalize the book with her own stories, she creates both a parenting tool - and ultimately a gift to the reader and her own daughter. This book is a celebration and a gift to anyone who has been a parent or a child.
-Neal Mazer, MD, MPH Chairman, Alisos Institute "Building Resilience...One Community at a Time"

"For all of the complexity that is typical in a mother-daughter relationship, this book, in the simplest of terms, personifies the power that exists between the two when they are able to make the right connection. Congratulations on a beautifully written book".
-Bonnie W. McDaniel, creator and founder of The Art of Good Living, The Mother Link and Mother-Daughter Retreat International. Bonnie is also the author of In The Eye of The Storm: A Celebration of Family and The Real Purpose of Home and the CD, Becoming The Mother Your Daughter Needs.

"In The Mother-Daughter Circle, Celia Straus addresses a wide audience of adults and girls. There is something for everyone here, including men who want to understand the mother-daughter bond better. The quotes from real girls and moms interspersed throughout the book offer little gems of insight. The journaling activities integrated in the text allowing readers to pick up a pen and respond immediately to the information they have just read, and a sense of thoughtful spirituality flows through every page. The size is an unanticipated bonus--I tucked it in my purse and bookbag to read at random moments (except once immersed, I didn't want to put it down!). A great present for any mom or any girl."
-Cheryl Dellasega, GNP, PhD Author of Surviving Ophelia Associate Professor of Medicine & HumanitiesPenn State College of Medicine The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Section of General Internal Medicine, HU15

"While our three daughters are now adults, with their own daughters, all will receive from me a copy of THE MOTHER -DAUGHTER CIRCLE, with my prayer that, as their mother, I have "connected" with them with "acceptance, sacred space, creativity, truth, laugher, courage and love."
-Margaret Taylor Smith Former Chair, Kresge Foundation Founder, Benefactor, Margaret Taylor Smith School of Women's Studies Duke University Co-Author, - "Mother, I Have Something To Tell You." 1986, Doubleday

"This is a must-read book for mothers of teenage daughters! Celia Straus has done an incredible job of weaving excellent ideas (coming directly from teens and mothers) with caring, gentle insight to help moms develop a closer, lifelong connection with their daughters. I especially appreciated the many comments from teenage girls about the times they enjoy most with their mothers.",
-June Cotner, author of Mothers and Daughter: A Poetry Celebration

"The Mother Daughter Circle is wonderful!. Because mothers and daughters share the same emotions, whether we are American, Canadian, British or Australian, Celia Straus has written a book with universal appeal, and made it even more meaningful with the lovely illustrations by her daughter, Julia.Mother Daughter Circle should be in every military family resource center library. I will recommend this book at every opportunity."
-Dianne Collier, publisher and managing editor of The Military Rose, Canada's leading magazine for military families, and author of Hurry Up And Wait, An Inside Look at Life as a Canadian Military Wife and My Love, My Life, both books published by Creative Bound.

"The Mother-Daughter Circle could just as easily apply to mothers and sons. There are many wise ways of connecting here for any mother to take to heart to foster a more loving relationship with her children."
-Maureen Orth, Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair