Secret Keeper:The Delicate Power of Modesty by Dannah Gresh

I have been curious about Secret Keeper Girl since hearing about the group on the radio and I was given a copy of Secret Keeper: The Delicate Power of Modesty by Dannah Gresh who also started the above, Secret Keeper Girl group. It's all about teaching girls, starting at age 8, about Godly modesty and purity in an age appropriate manner.

The book is published by Moody Publishers and here is what I found at their website about this book. "With Victoria's Secret now targeting 18-24 year-olds with the PINK line, and Abercrombie & Fitch successfully selling clothing through a catalog available only to those 18 and over, the need for a clear voice on modesty has never been greater.
In this reformatted edition of Dannah Gresh's bestselling book on modesty, teen and twenty-something young women are given actual pictures and examples of modern clothing-a modesty fashion show, of sorts. Dannah's approach to explaining the critical nature of modesty is both cool and relevant. The photos will also show the girls how to take the "Truth or Bare Fashion Tests." In essence, this will provide concrete, "how-to" modest dressing skills. "

I liked the tiny size of the book, it's about the size of a slightly over sized greeting card and the fact that there are only 96 pages makes it a quick and engaging read. This book is not one for the 8 year old group and I probably wouldn't let my daughter read it when she's 12 either, it is geared for the older teen girls. My overall impression of the book was it was well written and well done. It is not from a dresses-only point of view, which is okay and even the "Truth or Bare Test" is good for families that allow pants or are dresses only.

I will issue a word of caution this book did contain images of a naked statue titled The Greek Slave by Hiram Powers and you can see a breast. According to Dannah Gresh the statue is modest even in her nakedness, because she tries to cover her most private parts and her downward gaze. While I don't see eye to eye on everything with the author, it's a good book that has a lot that girls can learn from today - especially in the times that we live in where girls are supposed to be wearing writing across their bottoms, skin tight shirts and exposing undergarments. The test has some great ideas for making sure your clothing would be acceptable to God. These are tests that even I do with my own and my children's clothing before I read this book. One test is raising your arms to make sure that your belly isn't exposed, bending over to make sure your underwear are covered, how to tell if your shirt is too low among others.

Overall, this book is one that more girls need to read before going to school or church, being modestly dressed - Dannah Gresh though makes sure also to emphasize that being modest isn't only about clothing, it's also an attitude. This would be something good for a teen group at a church to have on hand or even do a study on it, or just for a mom and daughter to do together.