Ask me anything

“Ask me anything (heartfelt answers to 65 anonymous questions from teenage girls)” is a book written my Rebecca Sparrow and is being published this November 2015. Sparrow is an Australian author and columnist living in Brisbane. Her books always gain huge popularity. Sparrow is currently making a movie based on her first novel “The girls most likely”(2003). Her second novel “The year Nick McGowan came to stay”(2006) was transformed into a theatre play one year later.

What’s the story behind this new book? “Ask me anything” is, as Rebecca Sparrow writes, what she told all the teenage girls that she met when she gave talks at high schools. She didn’t give speeches about a certain topics only like writing, but wanted to encourage the teens to speak with her freely about everything they were interested in. But there are always some very personal questions everybody has in their heads, the ones you want to talk about either because it is about a topic coming up in puberty or a about a problem that makes you lay awake at night. Either way, you are ashamed of asking these questions aloud. Rebecca told the teenage girls she met to each write down a question they really wanted to have an answer to. They mustn’t give a name. So therefore this book contains Rebecca’s answers to the 65 questions that were anonymously given to her by the female High School students.

“Oh no, what a boring stereotype.” You might think now. “Where’s the point in writing ANOTHER book about teenage problems?” That’s what I thought at first as well and indeed, it is true that these times, you just have to step into the next book store and you might find a giant offer of advice books like “A 100 things every girl should know” or “Help me, my parents go crazy” (titles made up). So I wondered, what it is that qualifies Rebecca Sparrow to give answers to these teenage girl’s questions. There are several similar books on the market, why should you trust the advice of this author in particular? Also, wouldn’t it be the same cliché-like questions as always?

But when I started reading, I recognised two things:

1. There is no need for debating if Sparrow is qualified for giving answers to these questions. She doesn’t need to be qualified by special studies or something. She doesn’t claim to have the ultimate solution to the problems broached to issue by the girls but rather shares her own personal wisdom she gained throughout the years and the experiences she has gone through. It is just an offer to the girls to take her advice since it is always useful to ask somebody who might have gone through similar situations, tough times or if the girls don’t have anybody else to talk to. Sometimes, she even admits not to have an answer to some of the questions, which makes her book very authentic. Instead of pretending that there is an easy answer, she has handed the question over to other people, they may be experts in this topic or just someone who has inspiring ideas and that could have an interesting opinion.
2. The questions quoted in the book are not superficial ones. Of course, there are always some typical questions on how to get a boyfriend and so on, questions that just come up in the times of puberty. But the thing is that these questions directly come from the teenage girls themselves. If this question has a place in the book, somebody really wants to have an answer to it. It is not like the author assumed that these questions would be something girls are interested in. The questions are all a part of these girl’s real lives, real questions and real answers. Also, the themes of the questions go much deeper than it might be assumed at first. The book is separated into four main chapters: friendship, life, love and family. Although some question’s topics double, for the majority, the questions are as diverse as the girls who have formed these questions in their heads are. To give an impression, here are some of the question that I find the most interesting:

“How do you fix lost friendships?”

“What do you do when your best friend becomes friends with a girl who hates you and your best friend hardly knows her and ignores you and she has been friends your friend for five years?”

“How do I not be humiliated over having ADD and anxiety?”

“I have a friend who doesn’t eat anything, ever, except for dinner so her parents don’t find out. I’m really worried about her. Is there anything I can try to get her to eat? (..)”

“What does it feel like to be actually happy?”

“Where do I find courage?”

“Why does God give people illnesses and why do people still believe He gave them that for a reason?”

“I think I am gay. Should I tell my parents?”

“How can I feel closer to my mum who died?”

“My friend self-harms.”

The way in which some of these questions are written, proves that the questions are straight out of the minds of teenage girls because of the desperate simpleness or the complexity of which the questions are formulated. For example the questions are either written as a statement or written so complex that you have to read them more than once. Therefore showing once again that the questions come from real existing girls who have written down what they have been wondering and worrying about.

“Ask me anything” is easy to read. Rebecca Sparrow manages to give it a light and fun atmosphere while being serious when required by the topic. She not only gives her own or an expert’s/ an inspiring person’s opinion, but also presents the reader a broad offer of official helping contacts like the Kids Helpline or an organisation called Bravehearts, whose mission is to inform people about and protect Australian children from sexual assault.

“Ask me anything” has got very positives critics so far. Caroline Overington, journalist and associate editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly, describes the answers as “Real down- to- earth answers, delivered with empathy and heart.” And in my opinion, she is right. I am 18 years old myself and I have been through some things asked by the girls who I assume are a few years younger. Having experienced some of these problems makes me agree with a lot of the analyses and advices Rebecca gives. “Ask me everything” is not a must- read. But I mean that in a good way. It is not a book that claims to have the right answer for everyone. It doesn’t say “You have to read this book because that is what girls are interested in and what they want to know” on the cover. It is totally fine if a girl is not interested in the question issued in the book. I think Rebecca’s intention was to write a book that is there if help is wanted. A book that offers you a different opinion and maybe inspires you.

If you want to read more about and from Rebecca Sparrow, click here to go on her website and here to visit her columns for Mamamia Women’s Network.