By Paulette Jones, author of Girls’ Day Out: The Adventure

After searching for books for young girls, the daughters, nieces, cousins and mentees, it was discovered that there weren’t many in the genre of tween quasi fiction. The girls between the ages of nine and twelve were still reading princess books. The books that were available seemed to be preparing the girls for puberty. And the teenage books were too grown up for them with references to boyfriends, makeup and fashion.

Princess books are ok, but the tween age group is ready for a little more substance and a little more reality. They are ready to learn that they have the power, the strength, and the imagination to create the world they would like to live in. Children love to tell stories about themselves and this is a story that allows them to place themselves within and make it feel like their own.

This book is enjoyed by children because of the familiarity of the events in the story. The opening scene is familiar in that they are eagerly awaiting the last week of school and summer vacation. Its main location is a neighborhood, probably very much like the ones a majority of the children who will read this book live in. There is the library which is a neighborhood institution where learning and curiosity grow together.

The story takes the girls around the world, from their hometown of New Orleans, to Africa, to Hawaii, to Washington D.C. and finally back to their own neighborhood. The transition from the princess stories to this story is that they go from being told a magical tale to creating their own magic. In the end the girls agree that their adventure started the moment they found out about their special day. The book has several messages, the importance of education, the reward of curiosity, and the most important, the joy of the journey.

Paulette Jones, the author of Girls’ Day Out: The Adventure was inspired to write this book by her three nieces. When they realized that she was an author they asked her to write a book about them. She’s spoken at their schools and other community outreach programs for girls. www.yourtimepublishing.com