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Amber's Guide for Girls
Amber J. Mariano
Review by Alyce Wilson
Amber's Guide for Girls is a book by reality star Amber J. Mariano.
She doesn't say anywhere in the book or in her author biography what
show she starred in, but she was on both Survivor and The
Amazing Race. There was probably some sort of legal constraint from
the networks on mentioning the shows by name, because the book could then be confused
for official show merchandise.
There's no mystery why they wouldn't want to be connected to this book.
It is ostensibly a guide for young girls, but it's unclear exactly what
age range Amber is trying to address. From the sorts of topics she addresses,
it could be anywhere from grade school to junior high. But the vocabulary
and sentence structure are so simplistic, it's like she's trying to
reach an even younger audience.
The book its divided into short chapters about different topics. Most
consist of just a couple pages about what Amber's childhood experiences.
The book doesn't fails to provide much useful guidance to little girls,
except for things that are completely obvious, such as "Don't ever
give up! Aim for the stars and follow your dreams." Or "I
believe that you should treat others the same as you would like to be
treated. If you treat people with respect, chances are you will be treated
with the same respect."
Amber tries to make the book interactive by including some pages where
the girls are encouraged to write lists of things, such as a list of
their dreams for the future, or to draw a picture. There are a couple
of quizzes so brainless they make the quizzes in the teen mag YM
look like the SATs.
The only good thing about the book is the artwork, which is gorgeous,
done by Jim Zahniser.
Valentine J. Brkich, her brother, did the layout. Valentine makes a
noble attempt to make a boring book more interesting by using a variety
of fonts. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.
I'm not sure why anybody would want their daughter to look up to a
reality star, except perhaps, someone whose fame is achievement based,
like the winners on American Idol or So You Think You Can
Dance? But even if there is a market for this book, which I severely
doubt, anybody who bought it is likely to be disappointed.
Synergy Books, 2006: ISBN 978-1-933538-03-7
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