Overall, a worthy contribution not only to the market, but also within the broader canon of resources on Western yoga and...
Life comes with challenges, but with mindfulness, young people can learn to ride life’s ups and downs with clarity and calm.
In an encouraging and conversational tone, Gates straightforwardly presents mindfulness to a young audience without oversimplifying the content. The first part of the book explains the science of mindfulness and presents breathing techniques, yoga, and meditation as practice methods. Interspersed are appealing graphics: quirky illustrations of people of diverse shapes, gender representations, and skin tones; memelike quotes that offer encouragement; and short statements from young people using the practices in their own lives. The book ends with several mindfulness “challenges”—practice sequences that build daily. The practices instructed are a blend of traditional mindfulness techniques (body scan, mindful walking, etc.) and new strategies particularly relevant for young people (listening mindfully to one’s favorite music). Gates never strays toward dogma; readers are constantly encouraged to try the practices and notice their experiences. She makes it clear throughout that mindfulness is not about changing one’s life but about being more present for life as it is, one breath at a time. One unfortunate drawback is that some of the examples of potential stressors do reveal an assumption of privilege (schools offering modern dance, going on a ski trip with friends).
Overall, a worthy contribution not only to the market, but also within the broader canon of resources on Western yoga and mindfulness. (Nonfiction. 11-16)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-18662-2
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Potentially useful insights for youngsters encountering loss.
Advice on coping with loss, from the death of a family member or a close friend to a beloved pet’s demise to life-changing events such as divorce.
Imperi, a chaplain and thanatologist (“someone who knows about death, dying, grief and loss”), uses her own terminology to distinguish between “deathloss” (“when a person or an animal we love dies”) and “shadowloss” (“the death of something, not someone”). These categories make sense, but kids grieving the death of a loved one may find it difficult to wade through sections about other serious problems. Although the recent pandemic caused many actual deaths, this book describes Covid as a shadowloss, a disrupter of normal life. Imperi mentions a few religious traditions, but the book is primarily concerned with practical ideas and individual experiences. Specific thinking, writing, and creative exercises for moving through the grief process are included. She spotlights five diverse teens, along with their coping strategies for different types of loss; they appear to be composite portraits rather than real individuals. The black-and-white line illustrations and charts throughout will appeal to some, but the boxed affirmations on many pages may feel repetitive to others; the work overall feels a bit like an expanded magazine article. Still, patient readers will likely find guidance—and reassurance.
Potentially useful insights for youngsters encountering loss. (grief journal, glossary, note for caregivers, resources, references, index) (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781525309656
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Facile pop-psychology from a clinical psychologist with the credentials to know better. Assigning a chapter each to a select range of feelings—nearly all of them painful or negative ones, such as guilt, fear or anger, with but one shorter chapter allotted to the likes of love and joy—Lamia offers generalizations about what emotional responses look and feel like, typical circumstances that might cause them to arise and superficial insights (“Negative or worried thoughts spoil a good mood”). She also offers bland palliative suggestions (“Forgive yourself and move on”), self-quizzes, sound-bite comments in the margins from young people and, in colored boxes labeled “Psych Notes,” relevant research abstracts from cited but hard-to-obtain professional sources. Aside from a mildly discouraging view of “Infatuation,” she isn’t judgmental or prescriptive, but her overview is so cursory that she skips the stages of grief, makes no distinction between disgust and contempt and barely takes notice of depression. Teens and preteens might come away slightly more self-aware, but they won’t find either motivation or tools to help them cope with major upset. (Self-help. 12-16)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4338-0890-6
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2010
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