Book Review: Living the Confidence Code  

By Katty Kay, Claire Shipman & JillEllyn Riley

Published by Harper Collins

This is an original and rather good idea for an affirmative, inspirational book celebrating the achievements of young girls as a way of showing what can be done by “ordinary” people once they are fired up by determination and confidence.

Its 30 very readable case studies come from all over the world. Thus we read about Melati and Isabel Wijsen who have succeeded in getting the law and attitudes changed about plastic bags in Bali, where they live and where escalating pollution levels are very worrying. Dexa, from rural Nepal has succeeded in getting people in her area to be more open about menstruation, allow girls with periods to attend school and ensuring that they have access to sanitary protection.

Each account explains what the girl/s did and why – it would have been useful if the chapter headings had included the activity/problem as well as the activator’s name but it’s a small point. We get to know each girl as a person and there’s plenty of advice about finding the confidence to make a difference in the introduction as well as in every chapter. The final chapter is a blank notebook with an invitation to the reader to write her own account of living up to the “confidence code”.