Concluding with an annotated list of online resources and an index, this guide will be a boon for teen fitness buffs, if not...
Emphasizing a moderate approach to physical activity and balanced eating, this fitness guide for teen girls will be most useful to those who are already motivated.
Easy-to-read chapters offer advice on topics such as the benefits of healthy habits, fitting activity into the regular school and weekend day, and stress relief. Sample workouts offer simple, illustrated instructions that often require little or no equipment. Likewise, tips about healthy meals suggest foods that can be eaten raw or prepared with a minimum of fuss. Beyond the basics, there is concise information offered about subjects that include organic produce, eating disorders and High Intensity Interval Training. Yet the distinctly positive tone of the guide does not always work. The authors’ suggestion that a good attitude is one of the most important elements to fitness is likely true, but it’s hard to imagine many teens suddenly being won over by the insistence that gym class can be fun. It’s also unlikely they will thrill to some of the more didactic maxims offered here: “By being committed to making yourself the best you can be, you’ll find that getting fit is empowering—not dreadful.”
Concluding with an annotated list of online resources and an index, this guide will be a boon for teen fitness buffs, if not couch potatoes. (Nonfiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-936976-30-0
Page Count: 126
Publisher: Zest Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
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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