A Voice Becoming by Beth Bruno

A Voice Becoming by Beth Bruno is a book designed to plan a year of coming of age for young women guided by their moms and other older women into living a life of purpose and meaning. I read A Voice Becoming with a sort of awe and I wondered what my life would have looked like if I had had this type of guidance and female role models.

A Voice Becoming is divided into three parts: The Art of Becoming Starts with Mom, A Scaffolding of Womanhood for Girls, and A Life Becoming. Throughout the book, Bruno shares her story, as well as the story of her family and her daughter, as they spent a year guiding one of her daughters into womanhood through a year of learning through experiences, discussions, and special events. Bruno set up a general plan for how their year would go and also tells you how you could guide a young woman of your own, while allowing room for personality differences to make the year special for any young woman. Bruno shares in the book that many cultures have coming of age rituals and ceremonies but our culture lacks that sort of ritual and leaves our young people without the guidance that could help them become women of purpose. Bruno also has appendices in the back to provide practical guidance to make the year truly a special year of learning and growing. She also offers advice geared to parents as they consider their budgets, hands-on planning charts, resource ideas and more. There are also questions at the end of each chapter to help moms (or other female leaders) to think about their own story and how they can guide a young woman into developing her voice and learning how to make a difference.

I feel it is only fair to admit up front that I do not have a daughter so I cannot apply everything in A Voice Becoming. However, I am an Aunt and a mid-life woman who would like to see our young women (and men) succeed and make a difference in our world today. I gave this book 5 stars because I believe Bruno presents a clear guide on how to help young women to find their voice and realize their purpose in life. I also believe I am an influencer with my family members and friends and can recommend this book to them and possibly change the life of a young person. I could see where the timing of this type of guided coming-of-age year could make a real difference in the life of a daughter. I am also the mom of a boy. Bruno shares how they did a similar year for their son, so the book's guidance could also be used for men to create a year of growth with boys and she shares how they did it with their son in this book too. I would encourage moms (and grandmoms, and aunts, and older women who influence younger women) to read the book and consider how they can encourage the younger generation to find their voice and make a difference.

I received A Voice Becoming from FaithWords/Hachette Book Group. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for the book.