The HerStories Project: Women Explore the Joy, Pain, and Power of Female Friendship - Softcover

The bonds of women’s friendship can be more intimate than marriage, and just as essential to emotional health. From the childhood friend who broke your heart to the college roommate who witnessed you at your highest and lowest, from the lost friendship that ended bitterly to the devoted companion who is still in your life, from the bond that was forged due to shared grief to the shaky connection born with new motherhood, all women have stories to tell about their friendships. The HerStories Project: Women Explore the Joy, Pain, and Power of Female Friendship is a collection of essays from over 50 women writers, encompassing tales of friendship from the sandbox to the inbox. The book includes a foreword from Jill Smokler of Scary Mommy and several chapters on understanding friendship from friendship experts Shasta Nelson and Carlin Flora. In this book, you will read stories of childhood friendship, relationships between sisters, mothers, and daughters, grown-up friendships--both real life and online-- friendships during motherhood, and stories of friendship break-ups and losses. Whether you identify with the new mother who struggles with loneliness, the woman who looks forward to her social media notifications, the challenging and complex relationship of sisters, or the stories of friends that have drifted apart, you will recognize yourself somewhere in the pages of this book.

Jessica Smock is a writer, educator, former teacher, researcher, and mom to a toddler son who lives in Buffalo, New York. She earned her doctorate in educational policy from Boston University last spring after more than a decade as a middle school teacher and curriculum coordinator. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and wrote her thesis on the transition to first-time motherhood. She writes about parenting, education, and books at her blog School of Smock and at the Huffington Post. Stephanie Sprenger is a freelance writer, music therapist, and mother of two young daughters. She writes about the imperfect reality of life with kids at her blog,Mommy, for Real. Her work has been featured on various websites, including Mamalode, In the Powder Room, BlogHer, and Scary Mommy. Stephanie performed in the Denver production of Listen To Your Mother in May 2013. Visit www.HerStoriesProject.com to learn more about the editors, contributors, and the project.