113 Things to Do by 13

Teen & Her Mom Enlist Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Dozens of Other Experts in Offering Tips on Self-Esteem, Beauty/Style, Family Relationships, Handling Mean Girls and More Helping young girls arrive at 13 full of confidence, self-esteem and a can-do attitude is the focus of a new book from Brittany MacLeod and her mother, Access Hollywood senior producer Terri MacLeod.

Cowritten by a teen for tweens.

Its a go-to guide to life for young girls (and their parents). This hip, cool and totally tween-centric book covers all the crucial areas from crushes to BFF trouble to cyber-bullying to discovering your hidden talent (as wacky as it may be) at a young age. Its a must-have resource for all tweens to get through these roller-coaster times and arrive in their teens with healthy self-esteem and a can-do attitude.

is not a book of adults lecturing young tweens. Instead, it was conceived by 14-year-old celebrity blogger Brittany and her mom, Terri, a producer at the top-rated entertainment show, Access Hollywood, and it is packed with real-life feelings and issues girls and parents experience on a daily basis. This mother-daughter team enlisted more than 100 people (some famous, some just like you) to contribute their expertise and tween survival tips. The pages are formatted in a cool and catchy teen-mag style.

Its overflowing with eye-candy graphics, stylin sidebars on everything from DIY fashion crafts to tips on putting together an awesome sleepover, to 13 ways to volunteer at 13. Theres tons of girl-power advice on learning to love yourself, standing up to a mean girl, and why every tween needs to keep a journal-and keep it private. Plus, lots of young stars add their smart-girl sense: Selena Gomez shares why its important not to judge others, Taylor Swift contributes how she made her singing dream a reality and Brenda Song shares tips on dealing with pesky siblings.

Other girl-power incentives and super-fab ways to celebrate the tween years in

Turning an OMG moment into a life-learning lesson.
Playing a team sport and learning to be competitive, but nice.
Writing a crush-worthy love letter (no need to send).
Taking the dare in truth or dare.
Starting your own business at a young age.
Knowing and practicing good manners.

Like it or not, tweens are bombarded with celebrity culture, says coauthor Terri MacLeod. Young stars are strong role models and if their message and behavior is positive, young girls everywhere can be inspired and realize some of the tough stuff in their lives also happened to their favorite star-and they survived and thrived.

Likewise, insiders in every field chimed in with their expertise: Gossip Girls Leighton Meesters makeup artist shares age-appropriate beauty tips, Americas Next Top Model runway coach, J. Alexander, contributes tips to strutting like a supermodel, financial wiz Jean Chatzky offers money-smart advice all tweens should know, and renowned ecoblog TreeHugger offers ways a tween can become a little miss green.

And thats not all: Brittany and Terri rounded up young girls nationwide to share their body hang-ups, favorite pig out sundae toppers or 5 things they dream about doing with their mom. Theres tons of information to satisfy a tweens fashion sense, too-from recession-friendly tips on making an awesome Halloween costume to inexpensive must-have accessories to other age-perfect hair/beauty/fashion tips. 113 Things to Do by 13 was written with love by a mother-daughter duo to help young girls (and their parents) everywhere to be strong and learn that any dream is possible!

About the Authors

Brittany MacLeod is a 14-year-old eighth grader at York Prep in New York City. Besides being an avid writer and an adventurous city kid, shes also grown up in and around the entertainment industry. Shes often on celebrity red carpets and at premieres, fashion shows and dozens of celebrity junkets. Shes met (and been photographed) with everyone from the Jonas Brothers to Zac Efron to Hilary Duff to Miley Cyrus to the Gossip Girl cast. Plus, shes a teen reporter for teen volunteer group Do Something and covers the celebrity-charity beat.

Her mom, Terri MacLeod, has been a celebrity journalist for over 15 years. Presently, she is a senior producer at the top rated entertainment show Access Hollywood. On a daily basis, Ms. MacLeod is at the epicenter of the celebrity loop-writing, reporting and covering everything celebrity. Ms. MacLeod also writes an ecocelebrity column for the green Web site TreeHugger. She is a freelance writer on celebrity/lifestyle issues for numerous publications, including a stint as a longtime contributing editor at In Touch Weekly, where she originated and wrote weekly column/items on beauty, fashion and lifestyle. Besides her work in the celebrity world, Ms. MacLeod enjoys working with and writing about teenagers.

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