An accessible, practical guide to a critical subject.
A guide to understanding mental health crises and how friends can react to them helpfully.
Citing recent statistics in her introduction, Currie-McGhee points to the rise in teen mental health problems. Acknowledging nonprofessionals’ limitations, she argues that teens can still have an impact by listening to their friends, urging them to seek care, and simply being there. Chapter 1 offers tips for teens to identify friends in crisis. The second chapter, “Talking and Listening,” explains various types of intervention within teens’ reach and describes training programs that help them learn how to recognize and respond to signs of suicidality in peers. Next, the author covers practical ways to support friends, such as educating oneself and dealing effectively with social media. The fourth chapter, “Reaching Out for Help,” covers professional attention, and the final chapter focuses on empathy fatigue, setting boundaries, and self-care for those who are supporting friends. Throughout, Currie-McGhee counsels intervening rather than ignoring problems. The book doesn’t need to be read cover to cover; some repetition of content allows it to be used as a resource to dip into as needed. The work is accessible and brings the clinical issues to life through clear, direct writing that incorporates anecdotes and uses a minimum of technical terms. Text boxes highlight quotations and elaborate on key concepts, and the colorful layout includes stock photos of a diverse array of young people.
An accessible, practical guide to a critical subject. (source notes, resources, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781678210021
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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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