Straightforward and useful advice.
A clinical psychologist offers teens practical tools they can use to deal with social anxiety.
The director of the McLean Hospital’s Anxiety Mastery Program provides explanations and examples of techniques to help young people manage their fears and anxieties. To begin, she defines social anxiety and introduces three fictional teens. Emma, Jordan, and Maria (shown with differing skin tones in the grayscale illustrations) present different worries but respond similarly by withdrawing—in the classroom, among friends, or on the playing field. She follows these young people throughout the book, giving step-by-step directions for each of the tools she suggests. Sperling explains how to manage thoughts, feelings, and behavior using the tools of cognitive behavior therapy: checking your thoughts, mindfulness, and relaxation. She also discusses the strategy of exposure and response prevention, including gradual exposure and purposefully difficult exposure, to learn to curb defensive responses. At every step, Sperling uses one of her characters to show how a teen might put her techniques into practice. Every chapter includes a recapitulation of the most important points. The author addresses her readers directly; her explanations are clear, her tone is patient and reassuring, and she encourages regular use of these tools, offering the parallel example of an athlete’s daily practice. The book concludes with a helpful chapter on self-care.
Straightforward and useful advice. (references, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3362-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 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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