Teens will learn to treat themselves with kindness with the tools gleaned from this text.
Mindfulness strategies geared toward overwhelmed teens illuminate this evidence-based self-help guidebook by an expert in the field.
Readers will encounter a whole box of tools for cultivating compassion as they work through nine themed chapters addressing common adolescent struggles. The author outlines strategies emphasizing mindfulness, broad awareness of their shared humanity, and self-kindness. A collection of engaging formal and informal practices punctuates each section, and readers are taught to focus on sensations, thoughts, and breathing to let go of stress and anxiety and remain grounded in the present. Weblinks are included for downloadable audio of each meditation or exercise to support readers in their practice. Somewhat generic teen challenges are detailed throughout the book with first-person stories of scenarios where these practices can be particularly beneficial, including school, relationships, social media drama, and self-image. The author explains the evolutionary and biological reasons why we all experience fear, anxiety, and stress. The messages that teens are not alone in their difficulties and have the ability to change their own outlooks are empowering and hopeful. The author both criticizes how social media can add to teen anxiety as well as offers up ways to harness the power of social media for self-kindness practice, offering a balanced approach. Importantly, the author is explicitly reassuring toward and supportive of LGBTQ+ youth.
Teens will learn to treat themselves with kindness with the tools gleaned from this text. (references) (Self-help. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68403-527-4
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Instant Help Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today.
A beautifully heart-wrenching graphic-novel adaptation of actor and activist Takei’s (Lions and Tigers and Bears, 2013, etc.) childhood experience of incarceration in a World War II camp for Japanese Americans.
Takei had not yet started school when he, his parents, and his younger siblings were forced to leave their home and report to the Santa Anita Racetrack for “processing and removal” due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. The creators smoothly and cleverly embed the historical context within which Takei’s family’s story takes place, allowing readers to simultaneously experience the daily humiliations that they suffered in the camps while providing readers with a broader understanding of the federal legislation, lawsuits, and actions which led to and maintained this injustice. The heroes who fought against this and provided support to and within the Japanese American community, such as Fred Korematsu, the 442nd Regiment, Herbert Nicholson, and the ACLU’s Wayne Collins, are also highlighted, but the focus always remains on the many sacrifices that Takei’s parents made to ensure the safety and survival of their family while shielding their children from knowing the depths of the hatred they faced and danger they were in. The creators also highlight the dangerous parallels between the hate speech, stereotyping, and legislation used against Japanese Americans and the trajectory of current events. Delicate grayscale illustrations effectively convey the intense emotions and the stark living conditions.
A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-60309-450-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Top Shelf Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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