New Book Series for Tween Girls Bridges Gap Between Barbie and Britney; 180,000 Copies of Award-Winning Series in Print

(PRWEB) June 3, 2005

As Addie Swartz’s two daughters began reaching the pivotal “tween” years, she—like many moms—struggled to find a book series that would bridge the gap between Barbie and Britney. Frustration stoked her entrepreneurial spirit, and the Beacon Street Girls® book series for girls was created.

The empowering book series for tween girls, launched last spring, is an unusual independent publishing success story and will be showcased for the first time at BookExpo America (BEA) at Booth #438 on June 3 to 5 in New York.

More than 180,000 copies of the Beacon Street Girls books are now in print. The fifth volume of the series – Promises, Promises – will be available nationwide on June 15. One additional volume is scheduled for release in fall 2005.

The book series features contemporary, diverse, positive role models who empower girls to express their individuality, work through problems, make smart choices, and develop positive self images.

“So many messages reaching girls today ‘trickle down’ from teenagers. They’re often too sexually explicit and focused on appearance,” says Addie Swartz, creator of the series and founder of B*tween Productions, the publisher.

“Tweens are navigating a challenging period of tremendous change. They deserve meaningful stories with true-to-life characters that are appropriate for their life experience.”

Swartz and her team invested two years of research prior to publishing their first book, working with girls and girls’ experts to bring the Beacon Street Girls book series to life. The Beacon Street Girls concept is guided by current studies on how to strengthen girls’ self-confidence, build resilience, and encourage responsible behaviors—as well as on research with tweens and parents.

The series has been selected as a finalist in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2005 for Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction and has received strong reviews and endorsements from best-selling authors, psychologists, book reviewers, and educators.

Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out, calls the Beacon Street Girls “an authentic snapshot of middle school life that resists destructive cultural trends…with flawed characters and true-to-life moments of embarrassment, anger, jealousy, and learning from mistakes… the Beacon Street Girls is a welcome and important addition to girls’ literature.”

“The refreshingly real Beacon Street Girls … is a laugh-out-loud winner that also tugs at your heart. I loved the books’ upbeat values and tone as well as the positive way multi-culturalism was integrated into the story,” wrote Bonnie Kunzel, past president of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

Real Girls … Real Lives

The Beacon Street Girls invites tweens into the dynamic, contemporary world of the Abigail Adams Junior High School. The stories revolve around five lively seventh-grade girls—and the friendships, joys, adventures, and everyday choices they encounter navigating the challenges and peer pressures of the tween years. The BSG are real-world girls—not unobtainable icons—with complex family histories, personal idiosyncrasies, and real life challenges. Readers will easily relate to various aspects of each character.

The girls bond during sleepovers, enjoy IM and text messaging, get excited about school dances, elections and sports events, occasionally stress over school projects, and face personal challenges. Set in a multi cultural city just outside of Boston, the books place the characters in a familiar world, one that is meaningful to tween age girls everywhere.

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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