Helpful strategies for tackling ADHD.
This selection from the Instant Help Solutions series addresses teens struggling with symptoms of ADHD.
The table of contents lists 10 chapters, from “What Is ADHD Anyway?” to “Steering Yourself to the Future You Choose.” The text is frank and supportive: Besides discussions of symptoms, strategies, and specific mindfulness and self-compassion exercises, each chapter includes quotations from young people ages 12 to 20 (whose names indicate some ethnic diversity) who briefly share their trials, triumphs, and insights. The book mentions that although the condition is permanent, symptoms can effectively be reduced through mindfulness and self-compassion training plus other supports and medication, which it describes as the most highly effective treatment for some aspects of ADHD. However, it stresses that medications typically do not help with organization or time management, two topics thoroughly covered in the book. The sample scenarios may speak most to adolescents with relatively nonserious concerns about school, friends, and family; alcohol and sex are only briefly mentioned. The exercises are terrific for all teens, whether they have ADHD or not, and are largely accessible without having to read the whole work. Downloadable audio assistance and worksheets are added bonuses. The authors, who address anxiety throughout, repeatedly use the tired metaphor of steering the wheel of a fossil-fuel–powered vehicle, an unfortunate choice given the prevalence of environmental anxiety in today’s young people. Dynamic art, uncredited, features silhouettes, often set against patterned backgrounds, that help break up the text.
Helpful strategies for tackling ADHD. (endnotes) (Self-help. 12-18)Pub Date: May 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68403-639-4
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Instant Help Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 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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