Journal Buddies: A Girl’s Journal for Celebrating and Sharing Magnificence

Jill Schoenberg Girma
Blue Sky at Night Publishing (2005)
ISBN 097686231X
Reviewed by Peta Andersen for Reader Views (2/06)

“Journal Buddies” is a self esteem system. Targeting pre-teen girls, the book focuses on having readers work with a partner to discover what is special about themselves.

The idea of looking at what is positive about one’s self is not new, but Schoenberg Girma’s approach is fresh. “Focus on what you love, like and enjoy -- and your life will become more of what you love, like and enjoy... even when you're having a hard day, in fact especially when you're having a hard day!”

Covering a thirty day period, each entry offers a focus word, inviting the reader to write what that word means to them. Some words grow repetitive – synonyms for the same concept – beauty and beautiful, for example. Others are a fresh and warm surprise, tempting as a loaf of new bread.

For this reviewer, an infrequent journaler at best, writing in “Journal Buddies” each day was, at first, slightly chore-like. There was the task of finding a buddy to help brain-storm positive things about me – though Schoenberg Girma offers the chosen buddy could be a beloved pet, I did not feel quite right talking to a parakeet, mouse, or ferret. Next came the actual writing. Focused writing is difficult for writers; for a pre-teen it would be very much like a school assignment, or an offering from the school counsellor. After a few days, however, the process grew easier – sit down, talk about my positive attributes, write about the focus word and the good things that had happened to me during the day. Good things are one of Schoenberg Girma’s key points – “Journal Buddies” is not a place for self-pity and the like. It is about positivity. “Most importantly,” says Schoenberg Girma, “by using this journal a girl learns how to strengthen her sense of self-esteem and self-confidence by developing and enhancing a positive outlook of herself with the help of buddies.”

At the end of the month, how did I feel? Good, for the most part. After a rocky start, I have to say I enjoyed the process of “Journal Buddies.” It lacks the bells and whistles of other journals in the teen and pre-teen group, but it is this simplicity that helps to draw the journaler inward, and appreciate what is special and unique in herself.

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