They are bullied by some, while also bullying others with their own acts of aggression. She does not treat bullies as inherently evil, but allows girls the opportunity to explain why they act as they do. This offers a balanced view that gets to the heart of the issues and allows the opportunity for the issue to be fully understood and addressed. These features of the book allow it to be a positive one that offers hope for real solutions and provides lessons that have the potential to deal with the issues. Several important lessons from the book will now be described. .

             The first lesson that is learned from the book is about how girls express their anger. Simmons shows that the way girls express their anger is based on how they are socialized. They are raised to be kind to their friends and there is nothing in the way they are raised to suggest that anger towards others is acceptable. This leaves girls without an acceptable way to express their anger. In response, girls find indirect ways of expressing their anger. They find ways to attack others in a sneaky way, such as spreading rumors or giving others the silent treatment. This lesson is important because it does not just describe what girls do, but also explains why. This shows that the silent acts of aggression that girls carry out is not part of their personality, but part of their culture. For educators and school counselors, this provides a means of changing the situation. Educators and counselors can teach girls that feeling anger is normal and that expressing anger is acceptable. The culture can start to be changed by making girls aware of how they view friendship and anger and making girls question their views. Educators and counselors can also teach girls that expressing anger openly and dealing with an issue achieves a better result than acts of silent aggression. Finally, educators and counselors could help girls by giving them the communication skills to express their anger and deal with problems in their friendships.