A useful guide to counter feelings of helplessness.
A general overview of mental health issues stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mooney handles a broad topic in six brief chapters, each centering one aspect of the many social-emotional challenges related to the ongoing health crisis. Together, they contextualize the overall impact of increased isolation associated with the loss of normal routines, from depression to stress and anxiety. The text discusses problems like the economic strain on families, challenges for those in caregiver roles, dealing with death and grief, substance use, finding resources for support, issues facing essential workers, and other topics. Many teen readers will recognize their struggles with changes in schooling and dealing with family concerns, but insights for marginalized communities are somewhat limited. The photographs reflect some ethnic diversity, and specific stressors facing families of color are mostly acknowledged in financial terms. The disproportionate impact of anti-Chinese hate speech on Asian Americans is not mentioned; neither is the rise in domestic violence. Each chapter includes stories that offer varied individual perspectives that may resonate with many readers. The thematic chapters include some overlapping concepts and can stand alone. This carefully researched and informative title covers key concepts with an approach grounded in the importance of recognizing unhealthy behaviors and identifying coping strategies, thus meeting a need for digestible information on a much-needed contemporary topic.
A useful guide to counter feelings of helplessness. (source notes, resources, further research, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-6782-0076-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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