The Make-Over: A Teen’s Guide to Looking...

The Make-Over: A Teen’s Guide to Looking and Feeling Beautiful, by Jane Parks-McKay (William Morrow: $10.95).

This book promises to stand out amid numerous beauty how-to books because the reader is taken along on a personal journey.

It is based on the author’s teen-age experience in overcoming a negative self-image before changes she wanted in her outward appearance came about. To make this transition, the reader is given written exercises to challenge previously held beliefs about self-image, goals and time priorities.

Sections on diet, exercise, wardrobe, grooming and poise do not present anything new or unique, but are still worthwhile. A chapter on makeup includes easy-to-follow diagrams emphasizing simplicity and enhancement, not camouflage.

Much of this information is found in teen fashion magazines, but the advice is more easily taken to heart because examples are not based on hopelessly perfect teen-model prototypes: A “before” photograph of the author at 17 shows her as a gawky, rough-hewn adolescent. The “after” a polished, confident young woman. The emphasis is that one must begin at the beginning, and action, not dreaming, brings about the necessary changes.