Moonbeams & Shooting Stars: Discover Inner Strength and Live a Happier, More Spiritual Life

Incorporating Wiccan beliefs, and presenting herself as a guide, 19-year-old author Rain uses her life experiences to help fellow teen girls get in touch with their inner selves in order to find peace and happiness. If nothing else, her book will introduce them to beautiful spiritual people, goddesses, embodiments of strength, shooting stars and angels. Rain believes that one of the best ways for a young woman to""get in touch with her soul"" is to write. Thus the book includes blank pages after each section that can be used to note down thoughts or ideas--an inviting approach for young readers. Though the intent to empower young women with inner strength and self-appreciation is commendable, the book does lack substance. Discussing the moon, Greek mythology, and images of angels, Rain writes fluidly enough, she leaves out the connective material that would show readers how these topics relate to the search for their inner souls. For example, the chapter on the moon teaches readers to identify the moon's phases, adopt its energies and synchronize the changes they need to make in their own lives with the moon's phases. The question remains, though, how does such synchronization help readers find their strengths? In another exercise, readers are asked to list their goals and the obstacles that are stopping them from attaining them. Once the lists are made, a red pen should be used to cross out the obstacles, symbolically stripping them of their power over the reader. This exercise may be cute, but it needs to be taken further if it is to make a real difference in young lives. The book does touch upon some serious issues, such as coping with death, albeit lightly: Rain suggests lighting a candle and writing thoughts in a journal, allowing oneself the opportunity to say what was not said before. Yet despite its thinness, this book could still be a comfort to lonely teenagers, who may appreciate the author's girlish, mothering tone.