""I wish to be the thinnest girl at school, or maybe even the thinnest eleven-year-old on the entire planet,"" confides Lori Gottlieb to her diary. "I mean, what are girls supposed to wish for, other than being thin?"
For a girl growing up in Beverly Hills in 1978, the motto "You can never be too rich or too thin" is writ large. Precocious Lori learns her lessons well, so when she's told that "real women don't eat dessert" and "no one could ever like a girl who has thunder thighs," she decides to become a paragon of dieting. Soon Lori has become the "stick figure" she's longed to resemble. But then what? "Stick Figure" takes the reader on a gripping journey, as Lori struggles to reclaim both her body and her spirit.
By turns painful and wry, Lori's efforts to reconcile the conflicting messages society sends women ring as true today as when she first recorded these impressions. "One diet book says that if you drink three full glasses of water one hour before every meal to fill yourself up, you'll lose a pound a day. Another book says that once you start losing weight, everyone will ask, 'How did you do it?' but you shouldn't tell them because it's 'your little secret.' Then right above that part it says, "'New York Times" bestseller.' Some secret."
With an edgy wit and keenly observant eye, "Stick Figure" delivers an engrossing glimpse into the mind of a girl in transition to adulthood. This raw, no-holds-barred account is a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of living up to society's expectations.

Life. There are so many decisions. So much to think of, remember, plan, do, be, and accomplish. If only there was someone with wise words, a plan, some "direction" for our lives.

Luci Swindoll has spoken to thousands of women over the course of her lifetime. She finds reason for laughter in the midst of tears. She also knows―from experience―the importance of listening, learning, laughing, and loving her way through life.

Between laughing with friends and adopting humor as a basic lifestyle, Luci brings balance and wisdom your way as she openly shares her life. For more than 60 years, she's maintained a joyful spirit, a grateful heart, and a rich, purposeful relationship with God.

Let Luci show you how to not only live life, but celebrate it.

Recognizing that women often find themselves overlooked in written and oral history, Filling in the Pieces: Women Tell Their Stories of the Twentieth Century provides readers with personal narratives from women across the globe. The text includes observations and insights from women who were born in the earliest years of the twentieth century to those who witnessed two world wars, landing on the moon, the birth of the internet, and much more. As an oral history project, students of Michaela Reaves collected individual narratives of the events of one woman's life. Each narrative reflects the cultural mores of the world she inhabited, as well personal reflections on particular periods of her life. The text is organized chronologically and divided into four distinct parts with each part centering about a particular time period between 1900 and 2000. Each includes an introduction to provide readers with valuable historical context followed by a collection of interviews of women who lived across the globe, from Singapore to Estonia, San Francisco to Calcutta, Holland to Louisiana, and everywhere in between. Discussion questions throughout the text encourage critical thought and meaningful conversation. Filling in the Pieces is an ideal resource for courses in 20th century history. It transcends the traditional structure of only dates and wars to give voice to those living the "underside" of history.