Books
Get Savvy: Letters to a Teenage Girl about Sex and Love
AWARD-WINNING FINALIST
INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
Amazon’s Hot New Release: #1 Parenting Teen Girls, #1 Women’s Sexual Health, #1 Abuse Self Help, #1 Sacred Sexuality, #1 Health Teaching Materials
When her own daughter was 16, Kathleen Buckstaff, author and former Los Angeles Times columnist, developed severe stomach pain and within a few months lost 30 pounds. Doctors eventually determined she was suffering from PTSD. As she reviewed her old journals, Kathleen had to face painful truths.
Decades earlier, on a winter night at a prestigious New England boarding school, two teenage girls compared secret seduction letters male teachers had written them. Kathleen kept a journal and recorded the events that followed. The other, years later, took her own life.
When Kathleen discovered the two teachers were still teaching, she felt obligated to do everything possible to protect current students.
It would take decades for Kathleen to understand and name the truth behind what really happened.
In letters to a teenage girl, Kathleen revisits the events that changed her life and the lives of her closest friends. While researching Get Savvy, Kathleen interviewed over 60 college students, recent graduates, healthcare professionals, self-defense instructors and professors and draws from these interviews to describe what she wishes she had known about sex, predators, self-defense and love.
Get Savvy specifically addresses bullying, resisting peer pressure, how to create positive social alliances, how to identify an abusive relationship, what to say to someone who is depressed and may be suicidal, and what to say to someone who may have an eating disorder. Get Savvy offers tips on asking someone on a date; talking about sexual boundaries, what consent looks like, how to identify predatory behavior, verbal language around self-defense, bystander training and how to get help for oneself or a friend.
In a journal section, Kathleen offers reflection questions and a practice of self-love, respect and resilience. Get Savvy includes mindfulness training, the cultivation of compassion and healthy boundaries and encourages the exploration of one's inner guide, gifts and goals. Get Savvy is an invaluable resource for teens, both male and female, parents, educators, healthcare providers and community leaders.
TESTIMONIALS
IN THE MEDIA
A Podcast
Sunshine Parenting
A Reading
Get Savvy
