At New Moon Girls, we believe girls and women deserve the same respect and opportunities as boys and men.

This August 26 is Women’s Equality Day, and to celebrate we’re giving all of our supporters 26% off 6-month and 12-month memberships and in our store when you use the coupon code  WED826. (Discounts cannot be combined with other discount offers, including the discount for auto-renewal orders.)

How does this help celebrate Women’s Equality Day?

Girls worldwide have been positively impacted by New Moon Girls: how they feel about themselves, the world, and equality for girls everywhere!

Sophie, 9, from Massachusetts told us, “Before I joined New Moon Girls, I didn’t think good things about myself, and I didn’t have many friends. Now I see myself in a whole new light, and I’ve learned how to deal with mean people and many other problems. I would just like to say thanks, for the website and the magazine.”

Don’t miss out on this one-day only opportunity to celebrate Women’s Equality Day with the girls you know by giving the gift of New Moon Girls. You can also donate memberships to schools, libraries, girls’ groups and organizations, friends, and family. Countless girls can begin to see themselves as the powerful, intelligent, amazing people they are.

Order 26% off 6- and 12-month memberships and anything in our store on August 26 with the coupon code WED826.

Thank you for celebrating with us, and for celebrating girls’ futures.

Every part of NMG is made specially with girls in mind, and this week I’m showcasing some of my favorite features of NewMoon.com!

The NEW NMG Chats

I’ll start by introducing you to our new way for girls to chat. With our new chats, up to 11 NM girls and an adult moderator can video chat, while the rest of the members can voice chat. And if you’re not up for face-to-face or voice chatting, you can still do a typing chat like we did before.

Ask a parent to help you get ready for our next chat here. You can now join chats in Luna’s Chatterbox from your computer, tablet, or phone! Before using the new chat feature, check out a helpful how-to I posted for using the new chat, and some chat etiquette guidelines.

Our next chat is about Fitting In on September 30th, so you’ll have plenty of time to learn how to use it before signing in.

Sister to Sister

Most of you probably know about Sister to Sister on the Shout Out! Message Boards, but for those of you who don’t, let me fill you in. Sister to Sister is a place where NM girls can go to get advice from NM girls ages 13 and up.

Whether you need help with a friendship, or have questions about being a 7th grader, NMG sisters will be there to help. If you or someone you know would like to be a NMG “big sister,” head on over to Sister to Sister and check it out!

I love this feature of our site, but don’t just take my word for it. NM girls love it too!

• “I really want to be a sister to sister mentor!! I always help my younger friends out!! Especially at my summer camp…” – Princess Daisy, 11

• “Thanks for all the wonderful advice!” – Maura, 9

• “I am a big sister so it is great to get big sister advice!!” – Hope, 11

Ask A Girl

Another place you can go to get advice is the Ask a Girl page. This is a place for you to ask a question, and any NM girl can respond with their personal advice. Each question and response is moderated for safety before being posted to the site, so it might take a day or two to show up.

At Ask A Girl, you can also give advice. If you had a similar experience and can help a girl with hers, go for it!

These are only a few of my favorite places for girls on NewMoon.com. Check it out to experience more! And if a girl you know isn’t a member yet, but you know she’d love some of these features – no problem! She can see what it’s like, and become a member if she wants to participate! We have lots of different membership options to check out here.

(Psst! We’re working hard on an all-new NewMoon.com, coming out later this Fall 2014! We’ll be giving all of our supporters sneak peeks and chances to give feedback while we work on it.)

What are your favorite places on NewMoon.com? I’d love to hear from you!

Many of you are heading back to school soon, and you might be feeling like there are so many new things to worry about with a new grade – or even a new school! Never fear, Ask A Girl is here!

In this week’s enews, we’re highlighting some great questions and advice to help you ease into the school year.

It can be tough going from a homeschool to a bigger school. Emmie asks for advice about starting school, and Genevieve offers some helpful tips to start the school year:

Ask a Girl,

I’m starting school in 6 days, and I’ve been home-schooled for a long time, so I don’t know what it’s going to be like. Will anyone have a crush on me? Will there be any bullies? Will I get joked at? Will I get called fat? Will I get back grades?? I don’t know what to do!! I have the BEST teacher. But I’m kinda nervous…

Emmie, 12

Dear Emmie,

I know what you are going through, I had to do it in elementary school. Don’t get me wrong there will be tough spots in this school but its also a lot of fun. It sounds like you have a great teacher so that should help a lot. A lot of times people don’t think of teachers as people who you can be friends with but they are dead wrong. Make friends with you teachers. good luck.

Genevieve, 12

Sometimes it feels like you’re the only one, but Celeste assures Morganthere are people like her, and to keep looking for them:

Ask a Girl,

I’m in 6th grade, and this is my first year of middle school. Almost all of the girls in my grade have boyfriends, and I don’t understand it. I think that we’re too young to have boyfriends! This is really confusing me and I don’t know if there’s anyone my age in the school who knows what I’m talking about.

Morgan, 11

Dear Morgan,

It makes complete sense to me! I think the same way. Just keep looking for people that might understand your thoughts about going out at that age. Hope this helps! Know that you aren’t the only girl out there that thinks this way!

Celeste, 10

Lots of girls are looking for advice about starting middle school. Abby feels pressured by her older sisters to fit in with kids at school. Nevada shares her words of wisdom:

Ask a Girl,

I’m starting middle school this year and my older sisters are starting to tell me not to do certain things like use big words. I want to just be myself but I’m so fed up with them and feel so pressured. I’m so confused!

Abby, 11

Dear Abby,

Just be yourself! If somebody doesn’t want to be friends with you when you’re being yourself, then they aren’t a very good friend. If you are yourself you will likely find better friends.

Ijana, 14

Molly gives this NM girl great advice about being herself and standing up for herself:

Ask a Girl,

I’m stressing about school, but I haven’t gone back yet! People don’t like me at school, and I frequently get made fun of. I have a whole table to myself, and 10 people can fit at a table.

I’ve kind of conformed to their standards, wearing different clothes rather than my 1st choices.

I’m really starting to stress about school, and my mom said that I can’t spend so much time at home, because I have no friends, and hang alone.

Any advice for me?

School Girl, 13

Dear School Girl,

I’ve been in a similar position, and my advice is to act confident even if you don’t necessarily feel like it. It’s easy to sense insecurity in another person. If you look confident and secure, then mean people won’t single you out as an easy target. It doesn’t really matter very much if you dress fashionable, as long as you look happy with your choice of dress. You will also feel happier if you don’t try to be like them. If someone makes fun of you, don’t hesitate to stand up for yourself. Just make sure you don’t carry it too far and say something hurtful to them.

Molly, 12

Have you ever felt this way about going back to school? Click on the links above to give other NM girls your advice and tips. Do you need advice about other back to school worries? Head on over to Ask a Girl and ask your own question!