Tween to Teen

It’s weird. Not really weird but I guess it’s more of a feeling of nostalgia. It might have been written in the 1990’s but it’s all so similar even in 2007 and 2008. Almost twenty years later and it’s all still the same. Being a girl who’s been on both sides, I can easily relate. Margaret Finders takes a look into these two different social groups that are entering into the teenage girl realm. These group of girls discover what they value most and where their literacy is like from actions they have taken.

Just Girls follows two groups of girls through the first year in junior high. One group of girls, “Social Queens,” demonstrate to us the things that influence their literacy the most. Their need for popularity leads them to find things such as note passing and yearbook signing really important. Just thinking back to middle school I remember how amazing it felt to get a note passed to you from a boy or a girl. These girls talked about reading magazines and the influence their parents had on them as well.

On the other end of the spectrum we have the “Tough Cookies” who valued being an individual verses following the flock. They talked about how education was their goal and working hard now will help them achieve that. These girls valued their family and own interests. They would read classic novels and believed in being good.

I believe that from looking at these two groups of girls we can understand the major influences teenagers have on their literacy. These studies show us why some girls desire to read teen magazines and why others prefer to pick up an actual novel. It would be very interesting to see this study done today. Especially with all the social media and access to the world from their finger tips. Would both groups being using Tumblr but for different reason?