Beacon Street Girls® named a Finalist in the 2005 Independent Publishers Awards

New Beacon Street book for girls -- Worst Enemies/Best Friends, finalist in Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction category

(PRWEB) June 3, 2005

Worst Enemies/Best Friends, the first book in the popular, new Beacon Street Girls book series for pre-teen girls from B*tween Productions, Inc., has just been named a finalist in the Juvenile/Young Adult category of the Independent Publishers Awards. With over two thousand entries, the IPPY awards honor important contributions in literature, both in non-fiction and fiction, to small publishers from all over the world.

Worst Enemies/Best Friends introduces twelve-year old Charlotte, the klutzy new girl and world traveler to the very stylish Katani, the effervescent, red-haired Maeve and outspoken Avery. After making the biggest blunder in the history of the school, Charlotte is convinced that the girls will always be worst enemies. However, through a set of comic misadventures and personal revelations, the girls resolve their differences and become best friends, supporting each other through the minefield of middle school.

Beacon Street Girls was created as a way “to encourage pre-teen girls to express their individuality, work through problems, make smart choices, and develop healthy self images, says CEO, Addie Swartz.”

The series has been also gathering strong praise from experts on girls’ issues. Rachel Simmons, best selling author of Odd Girl Out: the Hidden Culture of Girl Aggression, calls Beacon Street Girls, “an important addition to girl’s literature.” While child development specialist at the Harvard Medical School and leading expert on girls issues , Catherine Steiner- Adair, Ed.D., offers, “In a culture that can be so demeaning and devaluing of girls, the Beacon Street Girls’ series combines cleverness, compassion and wit in celebrating girls’ vitality, intelligence and spirits.”

More importantly, in a world filled with nationally televised images of a scantily clad Paris Hilton, and anorexic-looking teen stars, Beacon Street Girls offers tween girls positive role models, contemporary, age-appropriate stories, and empowering messages packaged in a hot fudge sundae of fun and friendship. The response from fans has been enthusiastic. One young reader sent a letter to the publisher enthusing, “I walked into the bookstore and Boom! I found the best book in the world!”

Parents are thrilled with the Beacon Street Girls as well. “What a marvelous and well overdue idea! I am so tired of having all girls’ role models be 18 from California! My daughter thanked me multiple times for the books. She said, ‘We’re hooked!’”

The Beacon Street Girls book series for girls is available at Barnes& Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, http://www.beaconstreetgirls.com and independent bookstores throughout the United States.

B*tween Productions – home of the Beacon Street Girls books and accessories– is an innovative publishing, gift accessories and media company dedicated to building values based brands for girls between the ages of 9 and 13. The company, established in 2002, is headquartered in Lexington, Mass.

Visit Booth #438 on June 3rd – 5th at the Book Expo of America to learn more about these empowering books for girls.

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