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need good magazines for preteen girls

post #1 of 25
9/15/08 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 
I want to get my nieces magazine subscriptions for their birthdays this year - but now they are older (going to be 11 and 13) and I am not sure what to get them.

I do not want to get them the standard "preteen" mag like ComsoGirl or whatever else. UGH. They are already innodated with that kind of stuff from their mom and grandma - I like to get them more empowering stuff. They are both really smart beautiful girls - I like to encourage them to be strong, independent thinking girls.

But I really need some help in figuring out WHAT to get them. I don't really know what is out there. I was browsing Amazon and found these titles - any idea if they are any good? Or any other mags I should look into?

National Geographic Kids (animals/science)
Muse (science/math/computers)
Kids Discover (animals/science)
Calliope (history)
Dig (ancient history/archeology)
Faces (different country/culture each issue)

Thanks!

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post #2 of 25
9/15/08 at 7:15pm
Especially in the case of the 13-yr old, I would definitely go for the "adult" versions of any magazines. I think that NG, Smithsonian, Time, and Newsweek would all be really good options. My parents had subscriptions to those and they were not above my reading level as a pre-teen.

If she's into outdoor/athletic activities, she might enjoy Outside.
post #3 of 25
9/15/08 at 9:37pm
I would have loved National Geographic at almost any age.

What are her interests? I bet you could find a magazine for her based on her hobbies, there are magazines for everything these days: Horses? Photography? Travel?
post #4 of 25
9/15/08 at 9:45pm
My dd (11) absolutely loves Muse! She also loves Odyssey, by the same company. (And the last three you mentioned are the same company, too.)

NG Kids is nothing but vast amounts of commercialism, which really disappointed me.

Don't buy Muse, etc. from Amazon, though--buy it straight from
http://www.cricketmag.com/shop_magzines.asp
post #5 of 25
9/15/08 at 9:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by interested View Post

If she's into outdoor/athletic activities, she might enjoy Outside.
There are alcohol ads in Outside.
post #6 of 25
9/16/08 at 2:08am
What kind of stuff are they into? You can find magazines on anything from the usual (wilderness, fitness, crafts), the unusual (Advertisements), to the "People actually read that?" (Semiconductor International with 45,700 subscribers. Gotta love those Semiconductors.)
post #7 of 25
9/16/08 at 10:03am
Well, *I* subscribed to Bitch Magazine when I was 13.

Probably wouldn't fly with most parents though. A shame, really.
post #8 of 25
9/16/08 at 8:42pm
What is it? *thinking dog breeding or something here*
post #9 of 25
9/16/08 at 10:39pm
"a feminist response to pop culture"
post #10 of 25
9/17/08 at 12:10am
wow, i just looked it up and it seems like a great mag! i'd never heard of it before. thanks!
post #11 of 25
9/17/08 at 1:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kraftykathy View Post
wow, i just looked it up and it seems like a great mag! i'd never heard of it before. thanks!
:
post #12 of 25
9/17/08 at 2:36am
Thread Starter 
Now I could totally endorse a mag was a "feminist response to pop culture"! BUt I can guarentee that my BIL and his wife would throw it out before she ever saw it.

As for interests - they are very bright and do well in school but they are not exposed to much outside of school. The older one used to love astronomy and biology until her mother drove it into her that Barbies and Lip gloss were cooler than planets. : Being pretty and being popular is more valued that being smart and witty and self reliant.

They don't play sports, but they do cheer for the football team their dad coaches (GAG). They aren't in any activities except cheering and sunday school. They don't do crafty stuff unless it is with my MIL. They like jewelry, makeup, nailpolish, clothes, purses, shoes, etc. They do LOVE the webkins things. Anything cat related is usually a hit. Anything Hannah Montana is heaven to them. Barbies have been traded in for Bratz dolls several years ago. They do enjoy reading though (Sweet Valley books are the rage AGAIN LOL I remember when they first came out). And listening to whatever is the hit on the radio's Top 10 station.

While I think that some kids are ready at 13 for adult mags, my oldest neice is not. She is very niave. SHe may be able to read the content, but not necessarily process it in a productive manner. She is one of those book smart kids who has not a single drop of common sense. The younger one, she has common sense and street smarts and is light years ahead of her big sis when it comes to functioning in the real world.

Muse was actually at the top of my list - for the younger of the two. ANd Maybe Calliope, Dig, or Faces for the older one - just trying to find out more about the mags first.

Thanks for all the input
post #13 of 25
9/17/08 at 2:44am
Quote:
The older one used to love astronomy and biology until her mother drove it into her that Barbies and Lip gloss were cooler than planets. Being pretty and being popular is more valued that being smart and witty and self reliant.
Seriously?
post #14 of 25
9/17/08 at 3:01am
Thread Starter 
Sadly yes. I WISH I could say I was joking.
My BIL's wife actually refers to them as "the smart one" (although recently over the last few yeras it has faded from the smart one to "the social butterfly") and the "pretty one" - to their faces!!! And has since they were toddlers!!!
Both are beautiful, in different ways. Both are incredibly brilliant, in different ways.
But they are encouraged to be weak, flighty, simpering girls. Disney Princesses, Brittney Spears, and Hannah Montana are their role models. Seriously.
I just wish they were encouraged (by someone besides me and DH) to be strong, beautiful, brilliant, outspoken, self assured women-in-the-making.

Being head cheerleader would be more important to their parents than being valedictorian :

We get them stuff like books and microscopes for Xmas, while their parents get them Cell phones and Hannah Montana sing-a-long kits for the TV. I just don't get it.

I must say I do enjoy annoying my ILs by getting the girls educational gifts (that the girls enjoy!) and especially enjoy their horrified responses to the gender bending toys we supply DS with (a play kitchen, toy vacuum, male cabbage patch kid doll, dress up clothes, etc). THey always get something super commercial, all battery operated, and sports themed for DS - which always gets returned and exchanged for a nice open ended, enriching toy. LOL
post #15 of 25
9/17/08 at 3:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by naturegirl7 View Post
Sadly yes. I WISH I could say I was joking.
My BIL's wife actually refers to them as "the smart one" (although recently over the last few yeras it has faded from the smart one to "the social butterfly") and the "pretty one" - to their faces!!! And has since they were toddlers!!!
Both are beautiful, in different ways. Both are incredibly brilliant, in different ways.
But they are encouraged to be weak, flighty, simpering girls. Disney Princesses, Brittney Spears, and Hannah Montana are their role models. Seriously.
I just wish they were encouraged (by someone besides me and DH) to be strong, beautiful, brilliant, outspoken, self assured women-in-the-making.

Being head cheerleader would be more important to their parents than being valedictorian :

We get them stuff like books and microscopes for Xmas, while their parents get them Cell phones and Hannah Montana sing-a-long kits for the TV. I just don't get it.

I must say I do enjoy annoying my ILs by getting the girls educational gifts (that the girls enjoy!) and especially enjoy their horrified responses to the gender bending toys we supply DS with (a play kitchen, toy vacuum, male cabbage patch kid doll, dress up clothes, etc). THey always get something super commercial, all battery operated, and sports themed for DS - which always gets returned and exchanged for a nice open ended, enriching toy. LOL
Wanna borrow DD to take over to their place? She'd be a great role model. Refuses to be a 'typical' girl. Last time someone brought it up with her (in the question of "why can't you be more of a girl?") she replied with "What do you think I am? A cat? Can't be more of a girl then having two X chromosomes."

I commend you on continued contact, I'm not sure I'd be able to stomach that.

The one who used to love biology and astronomy might do great with a science mag, this is your chance to rekindle the desire. The lack of common sense could be that she's been bombarded with her parents ideas of what she should be for too long.
post #16 of 25
9/17/08 at 3:25am
My 12 yo dd1 has a subscription to Discovery Girls, and has for a few years. She loves it.
post #17 of 25
9/17/08 at 10:11am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirsten View Post
My 12 yo dd1 has a subscription to Discovery Girls, and has for a few years. She loves it.
I saw this one too - but it looked like a younger version of Teen or Cosmo. Is it different than that?

Quote:
Wanna borrow DD to take over to their place? She'd be a great role model. Refuses to be a 'typical' girl. Last time someone brought it up with her (in the question of "why can't you be more of a girl?") she replied with "What do you think I am? A cat? Can't be more of a girl then having two X chromosomes."

I commend you on continued contact, I'm not sure I'd be able to stomach that.

The one who used to love biology and astronomy might do great with a science mag, this is your chance to rekindle the desire. The lack of common sense could be that she's been bombarded with her parents ideas of what she should be for too long.
That is hysterical! I LOVE that!

And yeah, it is really hard to handle. It is harder now cuz last year we moved halfway across the country and don't get to see them very often (or even talk to them . It worse knowing that I am not there on a regular basis to provide real encouragement, praise, and a different view point. Especially cuz the younger one and I are really close (I nannied for her when she was an infant - hence why I think she is so different and more confident that her older sis). And of course they are not allowed to come down for a few weeks during the summer and stay. : Us and our radical views on childrearing and politics are a "bad influence" on them (god forbid they see someone breastfeeding!). I have also been told that by not vaxing DS I am not only putting him at risk, but endangering her girls too.
The ignorance abounds in that house.
post #18 of 25
9/17/08 at 11:03am
how about new moon?

http://www.newmoon.org/magazine/

my dd loves this one. maybe this one might get past their parents and still show them that girls are valued for so much more.
post #19 of 25
9/19/08 at 7:48am
New Moon looks great! I just ordered it for my girls. Thanks for telling us about it!
post #20 of 25
9/19/08 at 11:12am
My daughter had a subscription to a magazine called "American Girl". You can look it up online. It's written by pre-teen/young teen girls and covers everything from peer pressure to politics. My daughter is 15 now so it seems a bit too young for her to enjoy anymore. We won't be renewing her subscription. I don't know what we'll get her next..."Bitch" sounds interesting and I may have to research that. There will definitely be no "Seventeen" or "Cosmo Girl". Jeeze - what a waste of paper.
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