“Sometimes I think of my friends as family, too. Is that weird? I don’t know. But my friends do feel like family.”

The beloved teen book series ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ is turning 30 this year. Written back in 1986, the books have sold millions of copies around the globe and have given hundreds of thousands of young girls a love of reading. I was around eight years old when I was discovered these books at a used book store and I fell straight into the world of Stoneybrook, fun sleepovers, and friendships.

These books, among many others, shaped the way I looked at life as I grew up. For me, spending my teenage years with acne all over my face and quite an odd sense of humor, it was vital to me to have these books so that I would know that, even in the rough times, good friends and a good life could happen for me, and that being weird and different isn’t only OK, but probably the best thing that could ever happen to you. They taught me to think harder, be kinder, do better. It is so important for an adolescent girl to keep reading and have books that are appropriate for her age and will help her grow not only as an individual, but also as a young woman.

When I was even younger, around six or seven, I was handed my first American Girl book. I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen them at the library and only knew that I definitely wanted the doll that came with them. While I eventually had a collection of the dolls, it was the books that became the greatest part about it.

Each book is historically fiction, set in different time periods, such as the Great Depression or colonial times; slavery and World War II. What makes these different from any other historical books, however, is that they are each told from a young girl’s perspective. The girls in these stories are around 10 or 11 years old and the readers are able to put themselves into the story, allowing them to relate better and helping them learn things about the past in a more realistic way.

One of the other great things about the American Girl books is that they portray girls who are strong, courageous, and always fight for what is right, a message that is so great for adolescents to hear. The characters in the books are

independent and I would absolutely love for my daughters to have them as role models.

Other books, such as Lisi Harrison's The Clique books, are wonderful for girls in middle and high school who are struggling with things like, well, cliques, friends, bullying and boys; things that most girls have had to wade through at some point in their lives. These helped me understand that behind the facade, the so-called "cool" and "popular" girls aren't any more different or special than anybody else. They have the same fears, insecurities, and struggles that everybody does, if not, more so. They helped me become comfortable and confident in myself and besides that, they made me laugh.

Laughter is the best medicine for anything.

Mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings; please don't let the girls you love grow up without books in their hands. They provide something that movies, magazines, and mobile phones just can't compete with. Get your girl excited about learning, reading, and growing and help her to become the strong, creative spirit that God wants her to be. They need stories and characters that can relate to them and to use as a compass whenever things happen in their lives; a place to laugh and cry and be themselves.

Books are the most powerful tool that we have. Use them well.