In celebration of our annual Beautiful Girls issue of New Moon Girls magazine, this month’s recommendations feature books about beautiful girls like you — girls who are beautiful just for being themselves.
Folktales for Fearless Girls
Many fairy tales focus on how pretty, obedient, or quiet girls are … but there is more to the girls in this collection! Featuring folktales from around the world, stories like “A Wise Girl” from Russia, “The Female Warrior” from Spain, and “The Female Head of the Family” from China showcase the many ways girls and women can be beautiful. Full-color illustrations help you get totally lost in the tales.
That Thing About Bollywood
Sonali refuses to let her emotions out about her parents’ divorce … until suddenly she finds herself uncontrollably singing about her feelings like in a Bollywood musical! Her family, friends, and world change overnight the moment she lets her emotions out in this book about exploring cultural identity and coping with big feelings.
Keeping It Real
Marigold can’t wait to attend a special program at her parents’ business for teens who love fashion. But she immediately feels out of place among the other girls, including one who instantly dislikes her. Along the way, Mari learns some hard truths about her family and the dangers of conforming just to fit in.
The Dark Lord Clementine
When Clementine’s father, the Dark Lord, falls victim to a curse that makes him unable to do his job, she must take over. There’s only one problem: she has no interest in being the Dark Lord. In fact, she’s been experimenting with light magic. Can she find a way to fill the role he left empty AND be true to herself?
The Cat I Never Named
One day, 16-year-old Amra arrived at school to find that half of her classmates were missing. They were Serbs, who had fled the city knowing a racial battle was about to break out. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess shares the true story of what it was like to survive in war-torn Bosnia as a Bosnian Muslim. She wrote the book in hopes of standing up against racism, discrimination, prejudice, and violence that she witnesses unfolding in the U.S. Because this book deals with very difficult topics, make sure to talk to a parent or trusted adult about whether you’re ready to read it.
More Books About Beautiful Girls
After starting a new school where she is the only Black girl in her class, Madalyn learns that being a good friend and neighbor means learning to be there in the bad times as well as the good in Partly Cloudy by Tanita S. Davis.
In Over the Top by Alison Hughes, Diva struggles to stay true to her introverted, under-the-radar self with a flamboyant mother in an over-the-top world.
If you love to express your inner self through fashion, you can see how other women (and men) have done the same throughout time in The Complete Book of Fashion History by Walter Foster Jr.
What about you? Have you read any of the books above? What are your favorite books about inner beauty? Leave a comment below to share!