Hold Up Your Heads, Girls! Helps for Girls, in School and Out was first published in 1886. Ryder says that forming the character of a young woman is much like making an object with our hands. As you near completion it becomes more important to be more careful. Toward the end of a project there is a greater chance of ruining the task. She goes on to instruct young girls on how to talk, how to get acquainted with nature, how to make the most of work, what can I do?, what to study, English literature and other studies, the commonplace, moods, womanliness, girls and their friends, and youths and maidens.