Issue Date: June 6, 2004

Girl-powered inspiration

A new fiction series for tweens is modeled on real-life success stories.

Inspiring a younger generation of women to succeed is the thinking behind a new book series, "Girls Know How," geared to "tween" readers (ages 8 to 12). Each book in the series by author and publisher Ellen Langas Campbell, who hopes to produce four books a year, weaves in a real-life professional woman as inspiration. The mentor in the first book, "Will Stephanie Get the Story?" (NouSoma Communications, $4.95), about an aspiring fourth-grade writer, was inspired by USA WEEKEND's very own president and CEO, Marcia Bullard.

"I wanted to show girls that a journalism career is really attainable," says Langas Campbell. "Marcia was shy as a girl, and her story opens up avenues that girls may not have thought about." The second book, inspired by Denver businesswoman Linda Alvarado, is due out this fall.

When she was growing up, expectations for working women were not as high as they are today, says Bullard, 51: Although they encouraged her to go to college, "I don't know if my parents thought about careers for women." Today, Bullard is among a handful of women in the media in top management positions. We spoke to her about being a mentor for a younger generation:

How important are professional role models?
When you're an adult, you realize there were people in your life as a kid who made a difference by suggesting you try different things. For me, it was my sophomore English teacher. It's good to inspire kids and give them a realistic idea of what it will take. Sometimes you're a mentor without even realizing you are.

What are the challenges in being a journalist?
It's different all the time. That's one of the best and hardest things about it. You really have to create your job every day. And that's as difficult as looking at a blank canvas and figuring out what to paint.

Do failures also shape our success?
The most valuable lessons I learned were from mistakes I made. It's deeply embarrassing, but you learn by making those mistakes. You just have to pay attention.

How did your character get the name Nina Chapman?
Nina [NYE-na] after my father's mother, and Chapman for the last name of my mother's mother. I owe a lot to my parents.

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Next vacation, pack light: Leave your traditional camera at home

Before you squeeze all that camera gear into your luggage this summer, you may want to consider a camera phone instead. Sales are booming: 84 million last year, five times the number sold in 2002, reports the market research firm Strategy Analytics of Newton Centre, Mass., which expects sales to double this year. (This summer, a Los Angeles gallery hosts an invitation-only professional photographers' phonecam art exhibit; regular folks can submit their images for an online exhibit at sentonline.com.) The challenge: Unlike regular digital cameras, current camera phones have no zoom, often have no flash and deliver low-quality images. But for under $200, you can buy a camera phone to share images quickly, cheaply and easily anywhere around the world. The cellphone service, on the other hand -- now that may bankrupt you.

Contributing: Reed Tucker, Frappa Stout