How do you feel when you look at a magazine cover? Do you ever look at the models and wish you looked like them? Most women have had that experience. When you go to the health club, you notice how buff the woman to the left is and how skinny the woman to the right is. And when you go out, you see the guys flocking to talk with certain women and wonder if your looks stack up to theirs. When you get dressed in the morning, do you worry about whether your jeans are flattering? Do you think about who you are going to see when you decide how to do your hair? When you eat a meal, do you think about those magazine models again? Most women do. And they are buying into a lie. In this book Michelle Graham reveals how easy it is to fall into the trap of viewing your body through the lens of culture rather than through the eyes of God. She helps you understand that these are not the things that God wants you to dwell on. And these are not the true qualities of beauty. As you read this book you will discover that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and colors, and it cannot be airbrushed or faked. In these pages you will discover the true secrets of a positive body image. "A valuable dicussion starter and good book club choice for young Christian women and parent groups." -- Kathleen Kempa, The Christian Librarian, 51 (3) 2008 "Though the subject of beauty and body and ethnicity and weight might leave a woman feeling self-conscious, after reading this book, I felt unusually relaxed. My longing for God was reawakened, and my love for other women renewed." -- Dr. Sarah Sumner, professor of ministry and theology at Azusa Pacific University and author of Men and Women in the Church "Though the subject of beauty and body and ethnicity and weight might leave a woman feeling self-conscious, after reading this book, I felt unusually relaxed. My longing for God was reawakened, and my love for other women renewed." -- Dr. Sarah Sumner, professor of ministry and theology at Azusa Pacific University and author of Men and Women in the Church IVP: What made you realize it was time for you to write a book like Wanting to Be Her? Michelle Graham: Over the last several years I had been working in campus ministry with college students and, more specifically, on a conference dealing with the topic of sexuality. I knew that in order to speak relevantly to the issues our women are struggling with, we needed to address the issue of body image. The pressures that young women face today to look a certain way are astronomical. . . Body image has become as much a part of our daily lives as the air we breathe. But rarely do we stop to consider that it may have something to do with our relationship with God. I knew we needed to help our students wrestle through it from a biblical point of view. As I searched for helpful resources, I had a difficult time finding anything that was written with my students in mind. I realized that there were life-changing truths that not just my college students but women of all ages needed to hear. IVP: Why do you think there is such an obsession with appearance today? Graham: The messages we are bombarded with tell us that our value, our acceptance, even our success in life is dependent upon how closely we match the ideals of beauty. The pretty ones get the good jobs, the cute guys, the popular friends, the doors of opportunity, basically the happily ever after. Something in us craves acceptance, attention and love, and we're convinced that the way to receive it is through our appearance. Michelle Graham is a campus staff member and popular speaker with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, serving students at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.