Thank you so much for all of your letters! I love answering questions, and I hope that I can be helpful to each and every one of you!
I’d like to talk about an issue that is a problem for many girls that I talk to: Feeling Left Out. There are many times a girl may feel left out, and here are just a few:
- You might feel left out of a lunch table conversation when you don’t know what people are talking about and everyone else seems to be having a good time.
- You may feel left out because you didn’t get invited to a party or a sleep-over.
- Or maybe you didn’t make the traveling soccer team, and all your friends did, even the ones who aren’t as good as you. That could make you feel left out.
- Your body may be less developed than your friends’ bodies. They may be getting taller, or getting bras, or even getting their periods—and you may still have no curves whatsoever. That can make you feel left out, even if your mom reassures you that you’ll catch up to them pretty soon.
- Or your body may be more developed than your friends. That can make you feel left out too.
- Your best friend may “dump” you and be best friends with someone else. That can definitely give you a left out feeling.
Lots of times a girl feels like something’s wrong with her if she feels left out—like she’s “weird” or “unpopular” or “not good enough.” So what can you do? How can you help yourself feel better, even if you feel left out?
Here’s how one girl helped herself feel better—and hopefully her ideas will help you find a way to feel better too!
Angie is 13 and knows what it means to feel left out. Her best friend Dara decided to be friends with a girl who has never been nice to Angie. Sometimes the 3 girls hang out together, and when this happens, Angie feels “invisible” because Dara and the other girl laugh about secret things. Once they were all at the mall and the 2 girls left Angie to get a cookie—and never came back! Angie had to go home alone.
Angie said, “That was it for me. I knew I had to do something, but I didn’t know what to do. Then I talked to some other friends who felt Dara had changed—that she wasn’t the same person when she was with the other girl. So that gave me an idea—I decided to branch out and be close friends with other girls. I still consider Dara my closest friend because we’ve known each other since Kindergarten, but if she’s hanging out with the other girl, I just make plans with other friends. It just feels better that way.”
So take a tip from Angie—if you feel left out in a situation, try to hang out with people who help you feel included, wanted, and likeable just the way you are!
All best wishes,
Jill
Do you have more questions about what you should do in situations that stress you out? Ask Jill by clicking here, she’ll answer a new question each week!
Check out more advice that Jill has given to New Moon Girls members on Ask Jill!












