Parenting Books
Many of these books have been recommended by parents through the years. It helped them on their journey and hopefully they can assist you. Also scroll down to the bottom for information websites. Check out our updated parenting book page here.
Wit’s End
by Sue Scheff
Wit’s End is the shockingly gripping story of how Sue Scheff, a parent of a formerly troubled teen, turned her mistakes―and her relationship with her daughter―around. This highly practical and prescriptive book calls upon Scheff’s personal experiences with finding help for her daughter. It includes the same advice that Scheff offers parents through her internationally recognized organization Parents’ Universal Resource Experts (P.U.R.E.™)―an advocacy group that draws parents together and helps them find ways to protect their children from destructive influences by educating them about the issues their family faces and creating a safe environment to revive familial bonds.
Shame Nation
by Sue Scheff
“Smart. Timely. Essential. The era’s must-read to renew Internet civility.” ― Michele Borba ED.D, author of Unselfie
An essential toolkit to help everyone ― from parents to teenagers to educators ― take charge of their digital lives.
Online shame comes in many forms, and it’s surprising how much of an effect a simple tweet might have on your business, love life, or school peers. A rogue tweet might bring down a CEO; an army of trolls can run an individual off-line; and virtual harassment might cause real psychological damage. In Shame Nation, parent advocate and internet safety expert Sue Scheff presents an eye-opening examination around the rise in online shaming, and offers practical advice and tips.
More Than a Mom: How Prioritizing Your Wellness Helps You (and Your Family) Thrive
by Kari Kampakis
What if taking care of yourself was the first step to helping your family thrive?
If you’ve parented long enough, then you’ve learned firsthand why your personal wellness matters. You’ve felt the pain (or consequences) of devaluing yourself. Whether your wake-up call came from a diagnosis, a breakdown, an issue with your child or spouse, anxiety, or simply feeling depleted and numb, it most likely unveiled this truth:
Mothers are humans too. We require love, compassion, rest, and renewal. Taking care of our needs strengthens us and equips us for the road ahead.
In More Than a Mom, bestselling author Kari Kampakis offers a practical, approachable, and attainable framework to stay on a healthy path. You can take your kids only as far as you’ve come–and since their strength builds on your strength, you must take time to focus on you. More Than a Mom is about unleashing God’s power in your life and standing on timeless truths that will help you
- know your worth and embrace your purpose,
- build strong, uplifting friendships that you can model for your children,
- quit the negative self-talk and make peace with your body, and
- learn to mother yourself by resting and setting boundaries.
The world shaping your children is more callous and complex than the world that shaped you. Kids need to be stronger, smarter, and more rooted in what’s real. Empower your son or daughter by tending to your heart, soul, body, and mind. Give them a vision of a healthy adult–and know that as they launch into the real world, they will build on what you started.
Not By Chance: How Parents Boost Their Teen’s Success In and After Treatment
by Tim Thayne
Your struggling teenager is going to a residential or wilderness treatment program. Their addictions, learning disabilities, or emotional/behavioral issues have brought you to a moment of decision. Heartsick, anxious, and exhausted, questions bounce endlessly around your mind, “Will this work? Was this really necessary? Will she ever forgive me? Can we handle him at home when the time comes?”
Dr. Tim Thayne delivers the answers in his groundbreaking book Not by Chance. As an owner/therapist of wilderness and residential programs, Thayne was frustrated when young people made monumental progress, only to return home where things quickly unraveled. His mission became to vastly improve long-term success by crafting and proving a model to coach parents on their power to lead out through full engagement during treatment and management of the transition home.
13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don’t Do: Raising Self-Assured Children and Training Their Brains for a Life of Happiness, Meaning, and Success
by Amy Morin
The author of the international bestseller 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do turns her focus to parents, teaching them how to raise mentally strong and resilient children.
Do today’s children lack the flexibility and mental strength they need to cope with life’s challenges in an increasingly complicated and scary world? With safe spaces and trigger warnings designed to “protect” kids, many adults worry that children don’t have the resilience to reach their greatest potential. Amy Morin, the author who identified the characteristics that mentally strong people share, now gives adults—parents, teachers, and other mentors—the tools they need to become mental strength trainers. While other books tell parents what to do, Amy teaches parents what “not to do,” which she says is equally important in raising mentally strong youngsters.
No More Mean Girls: The Secret to Raising Strong, Confident, and Compassionate Girls
by Katie Hurley
Once upon a time, mean girls primarily existed in high school, while elementary school-aged girls spent hours at play and enjoyed friendships without much drama. But in this fast-paced world in which young girls are exposed to negative behaviors on TV and social media from the moment they enter school, they are also becoming caught up in social hierarchies much earlier. No More Mean Girls is a guide for parents to help their young daughters navigate tricky territories such as friendship building, creating an authentic self, standing up for themselves and others, and expressing themselves in a healthy way.
The need to be liked by others certainly isn’t new, but this generation of girls is growing up in an age when the “like” button shows the world just how well-liked they are. When girls acknowledge that they possess positive traits that make them interesting, strong, and likeable, however, the focus shifts and their self-confidence soars; “likes” lose their importance. This book offers actionable steps to help parents empower young girls to be kind, confident leaders who work together and build each other up.
Also review Katie Hurley’s Teen Depression Workbook. Helping teen’s improve their mood, build self-esteem and stay motivated.
Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy, and Fulfilling Lives
by Rachel Simmons
For many girls today, the drive to achieve is fueled by brutal self-criticism and an acute fear of failure. Though young women have never been more “successful”–outpacing boys in GPAs and college enrollment–they have also never struggled more.
On the surface, girls may seem exceptional, but in reality, they are anxious and overwhelmed, feeling that, no matter how hard they try, they will never be smart enough, successful enough, pretty enough, thin enough, popular enough, or sexy enough.
Rachel Simmons has been researching young women for two decades, and her research plainly shows that girl competence does not equal girl confidence—nor does it equal happiness, resilience, or self-worth. Backed by vivid case studies, Simmons warns that we have raised a generation of young women so focused on achieving that they avoid healthy risks, overthink setbacks, and suffer from imposter syndrome, believing they are frauds.
As they spend more time projecting an image of effortless perfection on social media, these girls are prone to withdraw from the essential relationships that offer solace and support and bolster self-esteem.
The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed
by Jessica Lahey
In the tradition of Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed and Wendy Mogel’s The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, this groundbreaking manifesto focuses on the critical school years when parents must learn to allow their children to experience the disappointment and frustration that occur from life’s inevitable problems so that they can grow up to be successful, resilient, and self-reliant adults.
Modern parenting is defined by an unprecedented level of overprotectiveness: parents who rush to school at the whim of a phone call to deliver forgotten assignments, who challenge teachers on report card disappointments, mastermind children’s friendships, and interfere on the playing field. As teacher and writer Jessica Lahey explains, even though these parents see themselves as being highly responsive to their children’s well being, they aren’t giving them the chance to experience failure—or the opportunity to learn to solve their own problems. Order Gift of Failure on Amazon.
The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence
By Jessica Lahey
The Addiction Inoculation is a comprehensive resource parents and educators can use to prevent substance abuse in children. Based on research in child welfare, psychology, substance abuse, and developmental neuroscience, this essential guide provides evidence-based strategies and practical tools adults need to understand, support, and educate resilient, addiction-resistant children. The guidelines are age-appropriate and actionable—from navigating a child’s risk for addiction, to interpreting signs of early abuse, to advice for broaching difficult conversations with children.
The Addiction Inoculation is an empathetic, accessible resource for anyone who plays a vital role in children’s lives—parents, teachers, coaches, or pediatricians—to help them raise kids who will grow up healthy, happy, and addiction-free.
Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction
by David Sheff
Sheff’s story is a first: a teenager s addiction from the parent s point of view a real-time chronicle of the shocking descent into substance abuse and the gradual emergence into hope. Before meth, Sheff s son Nic was a varsity athlete, honor student, and award-winning journalist. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who stole money from his eight-year-old brother and lived on the streets.
With haunting candor, Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs, the denial (by both child and parents), the three A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? the police? the hospital?), the attempts at rehab, and, at last, the way past addiction. He shows us that, whatever an addict s fate, the rest of the family must care for each other too, lest they become addicted to addiction. Meth is the fastest-growing drug in the United States, as well as the most addictive and the most dangerous wreaking permanent brain damage faster than any other readily available drug. It has invaded every region and demographic in America. This book is the first that treats meth and its impact in depth. But it is not just about meth. Nic s addiction has wrought the same damage that any addiction will wreak. His story, and his father s, are those of any family that contains an addict and one in three American families does. Order on Amazon.
Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy
by David Sheff
These facts are the foundation of Clean, a myth-shattering look at drug abuse by the author of Beautiful Boy. Based on the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, Clean is a leap beyond the traditional approaches to prevention and treatment of addiction and the mental illnesses that usually accompany it.
The existing treatment system, including Twelve Step programs and rehabs, has helped some, but it has failed to help many more, and David Sheff explains why. He spent time with scores of scientists, doctors, counselors, and addicts and their families to learn how addiction works and what can effectively treat it. Clean offers clear, cogent counsel for parents and others who want to prevent drug problems and for addicts and their loved ones no matter what stage of the illness they’re in. But it is also a book for all of us — a powerful rethinking of the greatest public health challenge of our time.
Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines
by Nic Sheff
This New York Times bestselling memoir of a young man’s addiction to methamphetamine tells a raw, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful tale of the road from relapse to recovery and complements his father’s parallel memoir, Beautiful Boy.
Nic Sheff was drunk for the first time at age eleven. In the years that followed, he would regularly smoke pot, do cocaine and Ecstasy, and develop addictions to crystal meth and heroin. Even so, he felt like he would always be able to quit and put his life together whenever he needed to. It took a violent relapse one summer in California to convince him otherwise. In a voice that is raw and honest, Nic spares no detail in telling us the compelling, heartbreaking, and true story of his relapse and the road to recovery. As we watch Nic plunge the mental and physical depths of drug addiction, he paints a picture for us of a person at odds with his past, with his family, with his substances, and with himself. It’s a harrowing portrait—but not one without hope. Order Tweak on Amazon
The Self-Love Workbook for Teens: A Transformative Guide to Boost Self-Esteem, Build a Healthy Mindset, and Embrace Your True Self
by Shainna Ali PhD.
Discover how to change your attitude, build confidence in who you are, and genuinely love yourself through the guided activities and real-world advice in this easy-to-use, friendly workbook for teens and young adults.
As a teen, life can be stressful, whether from worrying about body image, performance in school, relationships with friends and family, or societal pressures. It is easy for you to lose focus and lose sight of your worth. The Self-Love Workbook for Teens gives you the tools to conquer self-doubt and develop a healthy mindset. It includes fun, creative, and research-backed exercises, lessons, and tips, including:
- Interactive activities
- Reflective exercises
- Journaling prompts
- Actionable advice
Self-love is a journey, but it is the first step on the path to a happier, more fulfilling life.
What’s My Teenager Thinking: Practical Child Psychology for Modern Parents
by Tanith Carey and Dr. Carl Pickhardt
As the teenage brain rewires, hormones surge, and independence beckons, a perfect storm for family conflict emerges. Parenting just got tougher. But help is at hand.
This uniquely practical parenting book for raising teenagers in today’s world explores the science at work during this period of development, translates teenage behavior, and shows you how you can best respond as a parent – in the moment and the long term.
Taking over 100 everyday scenarios, the book tackles real-world situations head-on – from what to do when your teenager slams their bedroom door in your face to how to handle worries about online safety, peer group pressure, school work, and sex.
Discover how to create a supportive environment and communicate with confidence – to help your teenager manage whatever life brings.
Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen: The Essential Conversations You Need to Have With Your Kids Before They Start High School
by Michelle Icard
Trying to convince a middle schooler to listen to you can be exasperating. Indeed, it can feel like the best option is not to talk! But keeping kids safe—and prepared for all the times when you can’t be the angel on their shoulder—is about having the right conversations at the right time. From a brain growth and emotional readiness perspective, there is no better time for this than their tween years, right up to when they enter high school.
Distilling Michelle Icard’s decades of experience working with families, Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen focuses on big, thorny topics such as friendship, sexuality, impulsivity, and technology, as well as unexpected conversations about creativity, hygiene, money, privilege, and contributing to the family.
Icard outlines a simple, memorable, and family-tested formula for the best approach to these essential talks, the BRIEF Model: Begin peacefully, Relate to your child, Interview to collect information, Echo what you’re hearing, and give Feedback.
The Parallel Process: Growing Alongside Your Adolescent or Young Adult Child in Treatment
By Krissy Pozatek
For many parents of troubled teenagers, a therapeutic program that takes the child from the home for a period of time offers some respite from the daily tumult of acting out, lies, and tension that has left the family under siege. However, just as the teenager is embarking on a journey of self-discovery, skill-development, and emotional maturation, so parents too need to use this time to recognize that their own patterns may have contributed to their family’s downward spiral. This is The Parallel Process.
Using case studies garnered from her many years as an adolescent and family therapist, Krissy Pozatek shows parents of pre-teens, adolescents, and young adults how they can help their children by attuning to emotions, setting limits, not rushing to their rescue, and allowing them to take responsibility for their actions, while recognizing their own patterns of emotional withdrawal, workaholism, and of surrendering their lives and personalities to parenting.
The Parallel Process is an essential primer for all parents, whether of troubled teens or not, who are seeking to help the family stay and grow together as they negotiate the potentially difficult teenage years.
Don’t Let Your Kids Kill You: A Guide for Parents of Drug and Alcohol Addicted Children
by Charles Rubin
This is a self-help recovery guide for parents in the devastating situation of realizing that they are powerless to stop their children from self-destruction through drug and/or alcohol abuse. It is dedicated to letting parents know when it is time to start saving themselves from being dragged along to destruction as well, and to providing skills that prevent it.
The book relies on spiritual but practical teachings and the message is for parents to attain a healthy balance in their lives through the letting go process. While showing parents how to safely distance themselves from the child’s destructive patterns, it also shows how to recognize and support healthy requests for real help, if and when they come. It includes anecdotes and quotes from parents who have had to cope with kids on drugs and/or alcohol.
A Relentless Hope: Surviving the Storm of Teen Depression
by Gary E. Nelson
Depression and related illnesses threaten to wreck the lives of many teens and their families. Suicide driven by these illnesses is one of the top killers of these young people. How do teens become depressed? What does depression feel like? How can we identify it? What helps depressed teens? What hurts them? How do families cope with teen depression?
In A Relentless Hope Gary Nelson uses his experience as a pastor and pastoral counselor to guide the reader through an exploration of these and many other questions about teen depression. Nelson has worked with many teens over the years offering help to those who find themselves confronted by this potentially devastating attacker.
The author also uses the story of his own son’s journey through depression to weave together insights into the spiritual, emotional, cognitive, biological, and relational dimensions of teen depression. Through careful analysis, candid self-revelation, practical advice, and even humor, this pastor, counselor, and father reminds us that God’s light of healing can shine through the darkness of depression and offer hope. A Relentless Hope is written for teens, parents, teachers, pastors, and any who walk with the afflicted through this valley of the shadow of death.
Dirty: A Search for Answers Inside America’s Teenage Drug Epidemic
by Meredith Maran
Why do teenagers use drugs, what happens to them when they do, and what can we do about it? Venturing into uncharted territory, mother and award-winning journalist Meredith Maran takes us inside teenagers’ hearts, minds, and central nervous systems to explore the causes and consequences of our nation’s drug crisis.
In these pages we get to know the kids, the parents, the therapists, and the drug treatment programs at their best and worst. We’re face-to-face with seventeen-year-old Mike, whose life revolves around selling, smoking, and snorting speed; fifteen-year-old Tristan — the boy next door — who can’t get enough pot, pills, or vodka; and sixteen-year-old Zalika, a runaway, crack dealer, and prostitute since the age of twelve. In their relapses and rebounds we witness the anguish and resilience of teenagers in trouble — a fact of life for far too many American families today.
Middle School Matters
by Phyllis L. Fagell, LCPC
Middle school is its own important, distinct territory, and yet it’s either written off as an uncomfortable rite of passage or lumped in with other developmental phases. Based on her many years working in schools, professional counselor Phyllis Fagell sees these years instead as a critical stage that parents can’t afford to ignore (and though “middle school” includes different grades in various regions, Fagell maintains that the ages make more of a difference than the setting).
Though the transition from childhood to adolescence can be tough for kids, this time of rapid physical, intellectual, moral, social, and emotional change is a unique opportunity to proactively build character and confidence.
Fagell helps parents use the middle school years as a low-stakes training ground to teach kids the key skills they’ll need to thrive now and in the future, including making good friend choices, negotiating conflict, regulating their own emotions, be their own advocates, and more. To answer parents’ most common questions and struggles with middle school-aged children, Fagell combines her professional and personal expertise with stories and advice from prominent psychologists, doctors, parents, educators, school professionals, and middle schoolers themselves.
Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood
by Lisa Damour
Lisa Damour, Ph.D., director of the internationally renowned Laurel School’s Center for Research on Girls, pulls back the curtain on the teenage years and shows why your daughter’s erratic and confusing behavior is actually healthy, necessary, and natural. Untangled explains what’s going on, prepares parents for what’s to come, and lets them know when it’s time to worry.
In this sane, highly engaging, and informed guide for parents of daughters, Dr. Damour draws on decades of experience and the latest research to reveal the seven distinct—and absolutely normal—developmental transitions that turn girls into grown-ups, including Parting with Childhood, Contending with Adult Authority, Entering the Romantic World, and Caring for Herself. Providing realistic scenarios and welcome advice on how to engage daughters in smart, constructive ways, Untangled gives parents a broad framework for understanding their daughters while addressing their most common questions.
Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
Though anxiety has risen among young people overall, studies confirm that it has skyrocketed in girls. Research finds that the number of girls who said that they often felt nervous, worried, or fearful jumped 55 percent from 2009 to 2014, while the comparable number for adolescent boys has remained unchanged. As a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with girls, Lisa Damour, Ph.D., has witnessed this rising tide of stress and anxiety in her own research, in private practice, and in the all-girls’ school where she consults. She knew this had to be the topic of her new book.
In the engaging, anecdotal style and reassuring tone that won over thousands of readers of her first book, Untangled, Damour starts by addressing the facts about psychological pressure. She explains the surprising and underappreciated value of stress and anxiety: that stress can helpfully stretch us beyond our comfort zones, and anxiety can play a key role in keeping girls safe. When we emphasize the benefits of stress and anxiety, we can help our daughters take them in stride. Read Under Pressure.
American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers
by Nancy Jo Sales
Instagram. Whisper. Yik Yak. Vine. YouTube. Kik. Ask.fm. Tinder. The dominant force in the lives of girls coming of age in America today is social media. What it is doing to an entire generation of young women is the subject of award-winning Vanity Fair writer Nancy Jo Sales’s riveting and explosive American Girls.
With extraordinary intimacy and precision, Sales captures what it feels like to be a girl in America today. From Montclair to Manhattan and Los Angeles, from Florida and Arizona to Texas and Kentucky, Sales crisscrossed the country, speaking to more than two hundred girls, ages thirteen to nineteen, and documenting a massive change in the way girls are growing up, a phenomenon that transcends race, geography, and household income.
UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World
by Michele Borba Dr.
Bestselling author Michele Borba offers a 9-step program to help parents cultivate empathy in children, from birth to young adulthood—and explains why developing a healthy sense of empathy is a key predictor of which kids will thrive and succeed in the future.
Is the Selfie Syndrome Undermining Our Kids’ Future?
Teens today are 40 percent less empathetic than they were thirty years ago. Why is a lack of empathy—which goes hand-in-hand with the self-absorption epidemic Dr. Michele Borba calls the Selfie Syndrome—so dangerous? First, it hurts kids’ academic performance and leads to bullying behaviors. Also, it correlates with more cheating and less resilience. And once children grow up, a lack of empathy hampers their ability to collaborate, innovate, and problem-solve—all must-have skills for the global economy.
Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
by Peggy Orenstein
The author of the New York Times bestseller Cinderella Ate My Daughter offers a clear-eyed picture of the new sexual landscape girls face in the post-princess stage—high school through college—and reveals how they are negotiating it.
A generation gap has emerged between parents and their girls. Even in this age of helicopter parenting, the mothers and fathers of tomorrow’s women have little idea what their daughters are up to sexually or how they feel about it. Drawing on in-depth interviews with over seventy young women and a wide range of psychologists, academics, and experts, renowned journalist Peggy Orenstein goes where most others fear to tread, pulling back the curtain on the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important possibilities of girls’ sex lives in the modern world.
Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity
In Boys & Sex, Peggy Orenstein dives back into the lives of young people to once again give voice to the unspoken, revealing how young men understand and negotiate the new rules of physical and emotional intimacy.
Drawing on comprehensive interviews with young men, psychologists, academics, and experts in the field, Boys & Sex dissects so-called locker room talk; how the word “hilarious” robs boys of empathy; pornography as the new sex education; boys’ understanding of hookup culture and consent; and their experience as both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence.
By surfacing young men’s experience in all its complexity, Orenstein is able to unravel the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of young male sexuality in today’s world. The result is a provocative and paradigm-shifting work that offers a much-needed vision of how boys can truly move forward as better men.
ADD/ADHD, OCD, Bipolar and Depressed Teens and Children Books
Parenting the New Teen In the Age of Anxiety
by Dr. John Duffy
Learn about the “New Teen” and how to adjust your parenting approach. Kids are growing up with nearly unlimited access to social media and the internet, and unprecedented academic, social, and familial stressors. Starting as early as eight years old, children are exposed to information, thought, and emotion that they are developmentally unprepared to process. As a result, saving the typical “teen parenting” strategies for thirteen-year-olds is now years too late.
Urgent advice for parents of teens. Dr. John Duffy’s parenting book is a new and necessary guide that addresses this hidden phenomenon of the changing teenage brain. Dr. Duffy, a nationally recognized expert in parenting for nearly twenty-five years, offers this book as a guide for parents raising children who are growing up quickly and dealing with unresolved adolescent issues that can lead to anxiety and depression.
The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children
by Ross W. Greene Ph.D
What′s an explosive child? A child who responds to routine problems with extreme frustration-crying, screaming, swearing, kicking, hitting, biting, spitting, destroying property, and worse. A child whose frequent, severe outbursts leave his or her parents feeling frustrated, scared, worried, and desperate for help. Most of these parents have tried everything-reasoning, explaining, punishing, sticker charts, therapy, medication-but to no avail. They can′t figure out why their child acts the way he or she does; they wonder why the strategies that work for other kids don′t work for theirs; and they don′t know what to do instead.
Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them
by Ross W. Green Ph.D
From a distinguished clinician, pioneer in working with behaviorally challenging kids, and author of the acclaimed The Explosive Child comes a groundbreaking approach for understanding and helping these kids and transforming school discipline.
Frequent visits to the principal’s office. Detentions. Suspensions. Expulsions. These are the established tools of school discipline for kids who don’t abide by school rules, have a hard time getting along with other kids, don’t seem to respect authority, don’t seem interested in learning, and are disrupting the learning of their classmates. But there’s a big problem with these strategies: They are ineffective for most of the students to whom they are applied. Order Lost At School.
It’s time for a change in course.
Take Control of ADHD: The Ultimate Guide for Teens with ADHD
by Ruth Spodak Ph.D and Kenneth Stefano Psy.D
Take Control of ADHD: The Ultimate Guide for Teens With ADHD helps teens take control of their disorder and find success in school and in life. By creating the “ADHD Attention Profile” discussed in the book, readers will recognize how ADHD affects them, discover coping strategies and technology tools to improve their focus, and develop a self-advocacy plan they can use immediately.
The book presents the latest research and information on ADHD in a conversational style that teens can understand easily, allowing them to develop a better understanding of their disorder. By including suggestions from teens with ADHD, the authors offer tons of advice, information, and ideas for students, from students just like them. This handy guidebook is sure to help teens with ADHD learn to refocus their attention and find success in school and beyond!
The Bipolar Teen: What You Can Do to Help Your Child and Your Family
by David J. Miklowitz Ph.D
If your teen has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder–or your child’s moods seem out of control–Dr. David Miklowitz can help. The bestselling author of The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide has tailored his proven treatment approach to meet the specific needs of teens and their families. The Bipolar Teen provides tools you can use to make home life manageable again. You’ll learn to spot the differences between normal teenage behavior and the telltale symptoms of mania and depression. Together with your child’s doctors, you’ll be able to strike a healthy balance between medication and psychotherapy, recognize and respond to the early warning signs of an oncoming episode, and collaborate effectively with school personnel. Like no other resource available, this powerful book delivers practical ways to manage chaos and relieve stress so everyone in your family–including siblings–can find stability, support, and peace of mind.
Academics and Learning Differences Books
The Shut-Down Learner: Helping Your Academically Discouraged Child
by Richard Selznick
One of the worst feelings a child can have is being discouraged in school. The sense of hopelessness that pervades can become almost insurmountable. This is the emotional experience for the child called the shut-down learner. Also referred to as Lego kids or high-spatial children, such kids thrive with hands-on tasks that use their visual and spatial abilities. This book offers perspective and hope to parents who are struggling with these issues.
Smart but Scattered Teens: The “Executive Skills” Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential
by Richard Guare PhD, Peg Dawson EdD, and Colin Guare
“I told you, I’ll do it later.”
“I forgot to turn in the stupid application.”
“Could you drive me to school? I missed the bus again.”
“I can’t walk the dog–I have too much homework!”
If you’re the parent of a “smart but scattered” teen, trying to help him or her grow into a self-sufficient, responsible adult may feel like a never-ending battle. Now you have an alternative to micromanaging, cajoling, or ineffective punishments. This positive guide provides a science-based program for promoting teens’ independence by building their executive skills–the fundamental brain-based abilities needed to get organized, stay focused, and control impulses and emotions. Executive skills experts Drs. Richard Guare and Peg Dawson are joined by Colin Guare, a young adult who has successfully faced these issues himself. Learn step-by-step strategies to help your teen live up to his or her potential now and in the future–while making your relationship stronger. Helpful worksheets and forms can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2″ x 11″ size.
School Struggles: A Guide to Your Shut-Down Learner’s Success
by Richard Selznick
Richard Selznick is a child psychologist who has helped parents with their children’s struggles in school for more than 25 years. His first book, The Shut-Down Learner, identified the problems faced by spatial learners and recommended ways that parents and teachers can help them learn. School Struggles offers aid, comfort, and perspective to parents whose children have difficulty in school for a multitude of reasons.
Selznick addresses reading and writing issues, task analysis, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, difficulties with organization, social skills, medication, parents’ interactions with teachers, and more, in a practical, down-to-earth manner. The book is filled with takeaway points, surprising insights, and new actions to try with your child that are a godsend for families struggling with school and behavioral issues.
The OFFICIAL ACT PREP GUIDE 2021-2022 Edition
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The Official ACT Prep Guide 2021-2022 is created by the same people who crafted the ACT. With inside knowledge of the ACT test, the writers of this book packed the guide with practical and useful info to help you ace the test. You’ll learn how to approach each question type on the test and how to read and retain info quickly. In the book, you’ll find answer keys to all the provided sample questions.
Wrightslaw: All About IEPs
by Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright
Whether you are the parent of a child with special education needs, a seasoned educator, or a professional advocate, you have questions about Individualized Education Programs, (IEPs). In this comprehensive, easy to read book, you will find clear, concise answers to frequently asked questions about IEPs. Learn what the law says about IEP Teams and IEP Meetings, Parental Rights and Consent, Steps in Developing the IEP, Placement, Transition, Assistive Technology and Strategies to Resolve Disagreements.
Princeton Review SAT Premium Prep, 2022: 8 Practice Tests + Review & Techniques + Online Tools (College Test Preparation)
THE ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION FOR YOUR HIGHEST POSSIBLE SCORE—including 8 full-length practice tests for realistic prep, content reviews for all test sections, techniques for scoring success, and access to premium online extras.
Everything You Need to Know to Help Achieve a High Score.
· Comprehensive subject review for every section of the exam
· Valuable practice with complex reading comprehension passages and higher-level math problems
· Hands-on experience with all question types (multi-step problems, passage-based grammar questions, and more)
Adopted Children and Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) Books
The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child
by Nancy Newton Verrier
“The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child“, by Nancy Verrier, is a challenging and courageous work. A book which adoptees call their “bible,” it is a must read for anyone connected with adoption: adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, therapists, educators, and attorneys. In its application of information about perinatal psychology, attachment, bonding, and loss, “The Primal Wound” clarifies the effects of separation from the birthmother on adopted children.
In addition, it gives adoptees, whose pain has long been unacknowledged or misunderstood, validation for their feelings, as well as explanations for their behavior. As one adoptee said, “Only one thing has caused me more pain and damage than the existence of the primal wound: the world’s insistence that it does not exist.” The existence of the primal wound and suggestions for healing that wound are intelligently and compassionately set forth in this book, which is fast becoming the quintessential work about the complex and life-long process of adoption. The insight the author brings to the experience of abandonment and loss will contribute not only to the healing of those connected with adoption, but will bring understanding and encouragement to anyone who has ever felt abandoned.
When Love Is Not Enough: A Guide to Parenting With RAD-Reactive Attachment Disorder
by Nancy Thomas
When Love is Not Enough: A Guide to Parenting Children with RAD-Reactive Attachment Disorder brings hope and healing tools to parents and professionals working to help challenging children. Effective interventions, a full step by step plan, clearer insight and understanding make a powerful difference in helping children heal.
If you want to make a difference in the life of a hurting child, this book will do it! This plan was honed on some of the most difficult children in the US and has been used successfully to help thousands of children around the world. Children can learn to be respectful, responsible and fun to be with. This book tells the reader how to do it and then zaps them with a boost of encouragement to get started!
Feelings Buried Alive Never Die
by Koral K. Truman
Karol Truman provides a comprehensive and enlightening resource for getting in touch with unresolved feelings which, she explains, can distort not only happiness but also health and well-being. Leaving no emotion unnamed, and in fact listing around 750 labels for feelings, Truman helps identify problem areas, and offers a “script” to help process the feelings, replacing the negative feeling with a new, positive outlook. A chapter on the possible emotions below the surface in various physical ailments gives the reader plenty to work with on a deep healing level. FEELINGS BURIED ALIVE NEVER DIE combines a supportive, common-sense, results-oriented approach to a problem that is widespread and that can stop people from living fully.
Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens
by Debbie Riley and John Meeks
Working with adopted adolescents is complex. The key to successful therapy and healthy development is to help the adolescent discover and accept the person within. Parents will discover:
-the six most common adoption stuck-spots
-the complexities of adoption
-the adopted teen’s quest for identity
-how therapy may help the adoptive families learn and grow together.
Therapists and clinicians will discover:
-a broad knowledge base on adoption
-a step-by-step assessment process
-clinical intervention strategies
-a wealth of case histories
-treatment resources and therapy tools
-writing and art therapy samples
Teen Books
Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation
By Marilyn Price-Mitchell
For everyone who cares about the future of democracy and the wellbeing of generations to come, Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell shows how families, schools, and communities play critical roles in raising and mentoring tomorrow’s citizens. Through powerful voices of passion-filled American youth, you learn about the relationships, experiences, and challenges that shaped their young lives of service, civic engagement, and commitment to causes bigger than themselves.
Tomorrow’s Change Makers links the latest research on civic engagement with positive youth development, and provides practical, research-based advice on how to:
- Help young people transform volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement experiences beyond a requirement for college resumes to value-defining opportunities for personal growth and citizenship development.
- Utilize effective mentoring, coaching, and parenting practices that help young people believe in themselves and their abilities to improve the world.
- Cultivate eight core abilities that support youth development and engaged citizenship, helping children chart meaningful pathways through life and fulfilling roles in democracy and civil society.
- Encourage challenging and meaningful volunteering and service learning opportunities for every child, based on their unique strengths and interests.
Masterminds and Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World
by Rosalind Wiseman
Here is a landmark book that reveals the way boys think and that shows parents, educators and coaches how to reach out and help boys overcome their most common yet difficult challenges — by the bestselling author who changed our conception of adolescent girls.
Do you constantly struggle to pull information from your son, student, or athlete, only to encounter mumbling or evasive assurances such as “It’s nothing” or “I’m good?” Do you sense that the boy you care about is being bullied, but that he’ll do anything to avoid your “help?” Have you repeatedly reminded him that schoolwork and chores come before video games only to spy him reaching for the controller as soon as you leave the room? Have you watched with frustration as your boy flounders with girls?
Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World
by Rosalind Wiseman
When Rosalind Wiseman first published Queen Bees & Wannabes, she fundamentally changed the way adults look at girls’ friendships and conflicts–from how they choose their best friends, how they express their anger, their boundaries with boys, and their relationships with parents. Wiseman showed how girls of every background are profoundly influenced by their interactions with one another.
Now, Wiseman has revised and updated her groundbreaking book for a new generation of girls and explores:
•How girls’ experiences before adolescence impact their teen years, future relationships, and overall success
•The different roles girls play in and outside of cliques as Queen Bees, Targets, and Bystanders, and how this defines how they and others are treated
•Girls’ power plays–from fake apologies to fights over IM and text messages
•Where boys fit into the equation of girl conflicts and how you can help your daughter better hold her own with the opposite sex
•Checking your baggage–recognizing how your experiences impact the way you parent, and how to be sanely involved in your daughter’s difficult, yet common social conflicts
Odd Girl Out, Revised and Updated: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
by Rachel Simmons
When Odd Girl Out was first published, it became an instant bestseller and ignited a long-overdue conversation about the hidden culture of female bullying. Today the dirty looks, taunting notes, and social exclusion that plague girls’ friendships have gained new momentum in cyberspace.
In this updated edition, educator and bullying expert Rachel Simmons gives girls, parents, and educators proven and innovative strategies for navigating social dynamics in person and online, as well as brand new classroom initiatives and step-by-step parental suggestions for dealing with conventional bullying. With up-to-the-minute research and real-life stories, Odd Girl Out continues to be the definitive resource on the most pressing social issues facing girls today.
Grown-Up Stuff Explained: 75 Topics 18-Year-Olds Should Know
by Witty Ryter
This book uses concise descriptions and cartoons to introduce newly minted 18-year-olds to programs, documents, civic responsibilities, services, and facts that will likely touch their lives going forward.
Learning about grown-up stuff is usually boring, even if you’ve been an adult for a while. This book tries to make the experience a little more tolerable by getting to the point quickly and succinctly, and summarizing the message in a cartoon at the bottom of each page.
Think of Grown-up Stuff Explained as an appetizer in the all-you-can-eat buffet of information available about adulthood.
Girl to Girl: Honest Talk About Growing Up and Your Changing Body
by Sarah O’Leary Burningham and Alli Arnold
Being a girl isn’t always easy, and growing up is far from a walk in the park. This time of transition is particularly confusing without a confidante to help.
Meet Sarah O’Leary Burningham, a real-life big sister here to coach preteens through all of life’s big moments, from first bras to first periods. Filled with letters and testimonials from real girls—as well as confidence-boosting advice and myth-busting sidebars—this fun, accessible, and highly visual book is a must-have for every girl navigating her way through the preteen years.
Life Skills for Teens: How to Cook, Clean, Manage Money, Fix Your Car, Perform First Aid, and Just About Everything in Between
By Karen Harris
The teenage years are an exciting yet ever-changing period of your life. New challenges and tasks seem to pop up almost daily—not to mention all the transitions your body is going through.
As you get older and take on more responsibilities, you have probably wondered how to do many of the adult tasks your parents or older siblings seem to breeze through daily. Everyday challenges like how to tell if the chicken in the fridge has gone bad to how to get rid of dandruff has likely crossed your mind. As you learn and experience new things, questions about basic life skills will arise. LIFE SKILLS for TEENS is here to help you solve the daily problems adults take for granted.
While the internet provides a wealth of knowledge, it can be overwhelming to navigate at times. I mean, which of the thirteen articles about budgeting and saving money is actually accurate? And yes, you can ask your parents or other trusted adults in your life to teach you specific skills, but sometimes you just want to figure it out on your own. That’s where this guide comes into play.
by Katie Hurley, LCSW
Don’t face depression alone―advanced tools for teens.
You can feel better and The Depression Workbook for Teens is going to help you do it. Drawing on the most effective and up-to-date techniques―including cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness―this depression workbook is filled with helpful exercises designed specifically for teens that will help you conquer depression. Develop the skills you need to manage your emotional wellbeing and bring happiness back into your life.
Get information all about depression―its symptoms, causes, and risk factors―so you can identify the differences between normal stress and depression. There is a light at the end of the tunnel―The Depression Workbook for Teens will show you the way.
The Depression Workbook for Teens includes:
- Just for teens―Tackle your depression head-on using a depression workbook filled with strategies written with your unique needs (and time constraints) in mind.
- Useful tools―With quizzes, journaling prompts, conversation starters, and more, you’ll discover simple skill-building exercises to improve your mood and build your self-esteem.
- Practical problem solving―Find ways to work through the challenges you’re facing―including fighting with your parents, getting up in the morning, struggling with homework, and more.
The Depression Workbook for Teens gives you the helping hand you need to get through this difficult time.
The Ultimate Self-Esteem Workbook for Teens
by Megan MacClutcheon
Sometimes, feeling self-confident and secure seems impossible, especially if you’re a teen dealing with school, friends, family, and other challenges that can affect how you see yourself. This workbook helps you build up your self esteem and confidence with creative activities and advice that show you how to think positively, release self-doubt, and start loving who you are.
This supportive self esteem workbook includes:
- More than 50 different exercises―Get to know yourself with quizzes, journal prompts, checklists, and more that help you set goals, work through insecurities, and find out what makes you feel strong.
- True stories from other teens―Feel less alone when you read real-life anecdotes from your peers, along with a Q&A section full of bonus advice.
- The power to change―Self esteem is like a muscle, and practicing with this workbook will help you build your confidence, stay resilient, and focus on the future.
A Year of Positive Thinking for Teens: Daily Motivation to Beat Stress, Inspire Happiness, and Achieve Your Goals
by Katie Hurley
Transform your thoughts and find the confidence to navigate your teen years with positive thinking
Being a teen can be an emotional roller coaster. When you’re overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations from your friends, family, social media feed, teachers, and even yourself, it’s normal to have thoughts and feelings like This is too hard or I’ll never measure up. With A Year of Positive Thinking for Teens, you’ll discover how to overcome these anxious thought patterns, and build a happier, more positive mindset to achieve your goals.
Let go of stress with relatable prompts and reflections―all grounded in positive thinking and positive psychology strategies. Find a daily dose of motivation through insightful quotes and affirmations designed to encourage you to embrace happiness one day, one thought, and one year at a time.
Be Confident in Who You Are (Middle School Confidential Series) (Bk. 1)
by Annie Fox M.Ed
“Hey. We go to Milldale Middle School. We’re very different in lots of ways, but we’re all good friends. A couple months ago, we were just hanging out when these kids came over . . .”
So begins the journey of Jack, Jen, Chris, Abby, Mateo, and Michelle—six students just trying to figure it all out in middle school. Be Confident in Who You Are, the first book in the new Middle School Confidential series, follows these characters as they work to meet new challenges and survive the social scene—without losing sight of who they are. The book offers insider information on common middle school concerns and practical advice for being healthy, feeling good about who you are, and staying in control of your feelings and actions—even when the pressure is on. Filled with character narratives, quizzes, quotes from real kids, tips, tools, and resources, this book is a timely and engaging survival guide for the middle school years.
You’d Be So Pretty If . . .: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies–Even When We Don’t Love Our Own
by Dara Chadwick
I grew up listening to my mom bemoan everything from the size of her thighs to the shape of her eyes. So you can imagine my dismay the first time someone exclaimed, “You look just like your mother!”
Every mom wants her daughter to feel confident in her own skin, but may often unconsciously impose her own “body image blueprint.” Dara Chadwick’s You’d Be So Pretty If… reveals:
• What girls learn when Mom diets
• How to talk to your daughter about healthy eating and exercise habits
• The trigger words that set off a body image crisis
• How to recognize a budding eating disorder
With humor and compassion, You’d Be So Pretty If… offers parents fresh and useful strategies for conveying that success isn’t negated by carrying extra pounds—or guaranteed by keeping them off.
by Melissa Schorr
Who does she think she is? Annalise’s audacious freshman-year hookup with Cooper Franklin has a trio of friends thirsting for revenge. So they catfish Annalise by creating the perfect virtual guy, with Noelle playing along reluctantly only because her lifelong crush, Cooper, is in love with Annalise.
As Annalise falls for it, even buying tickets for the concert of the year for her and her mythical new guy, Noelle feels more and more guilty. Then, the whole thing blows up and Annalise faces her betrayers. But when Annalise forgives, the reunited friends learn that adults–even famous adults–can be even more bogus than teenagers. Order Identity Crisis.
Parenting Internet Safety, Security and Online Reputation Books
When your reputation becomes “Virtually Incorrect” – turn to Google™ Bomb!
by John W. Dozier and Sue Scheff
In today’s technology-dependent world, the Internet has become a legal lethal weapon against the privacy and reputations of its users.
Based on Sue Scheff’s landmark Internet defamation case that gave face to online harassment, cyberbulling, privacy invasion, and Google™ bombs (the practice of manipulating the ranking of web pages), and stirred Internet regulation and free-speech debates, Google™ Bomb arms readers with information, legal advice, and reputation defense (and clean up) mechanisms from one of the country’s top cyber abuse attorneys, John W. Dozier, Jr.
Dozier, whose firm, Dozier Internet Law, regularly handles legal matters involving online defamation, copyright and trademark infringement, and hacking, uses Scheff’s story as a backdrop to lay the groundwork for a personal plan for reputation defense that anyone from business owners and students to job seekers and employers to parents and bloggers can implement easily and immediately.
Protecting Your Internet Identity: Are You Naked Online?
by Ted Claypoole and Theresa Payton
Today people have an offline reputation and image, but are increasingly creating one or more online personas. Their online image is having an impact on them in many ways.
Employers are hiring and firing based on people’s online activities. Criminals are using online identities to abuse or steal from victims. Cyberbullies are taking advantage of those who reveal themselves as vulnerable on grieving or eating disorder sites. Schools are denying admission based on adolescent behaviors broadcast online in social networking sites or media sharing sites such as YouTube.
Raising Humans In A Digital World
by Diana Graber
Sexting, cyberbullying, revenge porn, online predators… all of these potential threats can tempt parents to snatch the smartphone or tablet right out of their children’s hands. While avoidance might eliminate the dangers, that approach also means your child misses out on technology’s many benefits and opportunities.
Raising Humans in a Digital World shows how digital kids must learn to navigate this environment, through
- developing social-emotional skills
- balancing virtual and real life
- building safe and healthy relationships
- avoiding cyberbullies and online predators
- protecting personal information
- identifying and avoiding fake news and questionable content
- becoming positive role models and leaders.
Social Media Wellness: Helping Tweens and Teens Thrive in an Unbalanced Digital World
by Ana Homayoun
Solutions for navigating an ever-changing social media world
Today’s students face a challenging paradox: the digital tools they need to complete their work are often the source of their biggest distractions. Students can quickly become overwhelmed trying to manage the daily confluence of online interactions with schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and family life. Written by noted author and educator Ana Homayoun, Social Media Wellnessis the first book to successfully decode the new language of social media for parents and educators and provide pragmatic solutions to help students:
- Manage distractions
- Focus and prioritize
- Improve time-management
- Become more organized and boost productivity
- Decrease stress and build empathy
With fresh insights and a solutions-oriented perspective, this crucial guide will help parents, educators and students work together to promote healthy socialization, effective self-regulation, and overall safety and wellness.
lol…OMG!: What Every Student Needs to Know About Online Reputation Management, Digital Citizenship and Cyberbullying
by Matt Ivester
The ease with which digital content can be shared online, in addition to its many benefits, has created a host of problems for today’s high school and college students. All too often, students are uploading, updating, posting and publishing without giving a second thought to who might see their content or how it might be perceived.
lol…OMG! provides a cautionary look at the many ways that today’s students are experiencing the unanticipated negative consequences of their digital decisions – from lost job opportunities and denied college and graduate school admissions to full-blown national scandals.
It also examines how technology is allowing students to bully one another in new and disturbing ways, and why students are often crueler online than in person. By using real-life case studies and offering actionable strategies and best practices, this book empowers students to clean up and maintain a positive online presence, and to become responsible digital citizens.
School Climate 2.0: Preventing Cyberbullying and Sexting One Classroom at a Time
by Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin
When students receive hurtful, threatening, or sexually explicit electronic messages, it affects their ability to concentrate on schoolwork. Renowned cyberbullying experts Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin connect the off-campus, high-tech behaviors of teens to the school environment and provide educators with a road map for developing a positive school climate that counteracts cyberbullying and sexting. Specific strategies include:
Building a sense of community
Peer mentoring
Social norming
Data-driven action plans
Youth grassroots campaigns
Multi-pronged policy and programming approaches by adults
Included are real-life stories that help illustrate the research and a companion website with everything you need to bully-proof your school.
Words Wound: Delete Cyberbullying and Make Kindness Go Viral
by Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja
Cyberbullying happens every day. Harsh words and damaging photos exchanged through texts, email, or social media can result in humiliation, broken friendships, punishment at school, and even legal prosecution. In some cases, online harassment has contributed to teen suicide. Faced with this frightening problem, parents, educators, and teens are looking for information and advice.
Many books have been written for adults about what cyberbullying is and what to do about it, but nothing has been written specifically for teens to help them to protect themselves and their peers. Written by the foremost experts in cyberbullying prevention and reviewed by teens, this book provides practical strategies for those who are being cyberbullied, seeing cyberbullying, or who just want to do something to help make their schools a safer and more respectful place.
The book includes dozens of real-life stories from those who have experienced cyberbullying, including many who have risen above it to make a positive difference in their schools. In short, “Words Wound” helps students to be the primary agents of change to “delete cyberbullying and make kindness go viral.” Are you ready to join the movement?
Bullied: What Every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know About Ending the Cycle of Fear
by Carrie Goldman
From the mother of a bullied first grader—whose inspiring true story triggered an outpouring of support from online communities around the world—a guide to the crucial lessons and actionable guidance she’s learned about how to stop bullying before it starts.
iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood
by Jean M. Twenge, PhD
With generational divides wider than ever, parents, educators, and employers have an urgent need to understand today’s rising generation of teens and young adults.
Born in the mid-1990s up to the mid-2000s, iGen is the first generation to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. With social media and texting replacing other activities, iGen spends less time with their friends in person—perhaps contributing to their unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
But technology is not the only thing that makes iGen distinct from every generation before them; they are also different in how they spend their time, how they behave, and in their attitudes toward religion, sexuality, and politics. They socialize in completely new ways, reject once sacred social taboos, and want different things from their lives and careers. More than previous generations, they are obsessed with safety, focused on tolerance, and have no patience for inequality.
Spiritual Reading
Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters!
By Rachel Macy Stafford
Discover the power, joy, and love of living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions.
If technology is the new addiction, then multitasking is the new marching order. We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it’s no wonder we’re distracted.
But this isn’t the way it has to be.
Special education teacher, New York Times bestselling author, and mother Rachel Macy Stafford says enough is enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections.
Finding balance doesn’t mean giving up all technology forever. And it doesn’t mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction.
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: Stories of Life, Love and Learning
by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger
Being a teen is hard – but you are not alone. This book is filled with stories that will make you laugh and make you cry. It will act as a best friend, keep you company, motivate you, and reassure you that other teenagers have been through the same ups and downs and have come out okay.
Only Love Today: Reminders to Breathe More, Stress Less, and Choose Love
Rachel Macy Stafford, known to millions as the Hands Free Mama, equips readers to breathe life into what really matters: the ordinary moments in our routine lives and the people in them.
Her inspiring words fill this beautiful book of short pieces constructed around the seasons of life. From finding daily surrender in the autumn and daily hope in the winter, to daily bloom and daily spark in the spring and summer, you will always find fresh beautiful words for your day.
With a flexible, non-dated structure, Only Love Todayoffers life-giving words that remind you of the tools you already possess and insights you already have as you seek to find:
- Clarity when you’re conflicted
- Unity when you’re divided
- Faith when you’re uncertain
- Rest when your soul is weary
- Meaning in the meaningless
- and a reset button directing you back to what matters most
Live Love Now: Relieve the Pressure and Find Real Connection with Our Kids
By Rachel Macy Stafford
In Live Love Now, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Macy Stafford tackles the biggest challenges facing kids today and equips adults to engage them with humanness and heart, compassion and honesty to discover the deep, life-giving connection everyone is longing for.
What do young people need now more than ever? Adults who are Truth-tellers not taskmasters. Encouragers not enforcers. Guides not half-listeners. The good news is, it’s not too late! No matter what’s happened in the past, you can help the kids you love face the top stressors of today, including academic pressure, parental expectations, technoference, lack of purpose, isolation, and loneliness.
Whether you’re a parent, educator, older sibling, coach, or anyone in a role of leading young people, this book will help you meet the goal of raising and guiding young people to become resilient, compassionate, and capable adults.
10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know
by Kari Kampakis
These 10 simple truths can build one big change in your daughter’s life.
When Kari Kampakis wrote a blog post titled “10 Truths Young Girls Should Know,” the post went viral and was shared 74,000 times on Facebook and pinned 20,000 times on Pinterest. Obviously her message strikes a chord. This nonfiction book for teen & tween girls expands on these 10 truths and can reach the hearts of both mothers and daughters.
Teen girls deal daily with cliques, bullying, rejection, and social media fiascos. Kari wants girls to know that they don’t have to compromise their integrity or their future to find love, acceptance, and security.
The Mindfulness Journal for Teens: Prompts and Practices to Help You Stay Cool, Calm, and Present
by Jennie Marie Battistin
Between school stress, extracurriculars, friend drama, and more, being a teenager is tough. Mindfulness―pausing to experience the present moment only―is a great way to stay focused and practice dealing with one feeling at a time. This mindfulness journal is especially for teens, offering a toolbox of simple breathing exercises, easy meditations, and dozens of writing prompts that help you bring mindfulness into your daily routine. By spending just a few minutes with it every day, you can make your life feel calmer, more focused, and easier.
The Mindfulness Journal for Teens includes:
- Teen survival skills―Anyone can benefit from mindfulness, but these examples and prompts focus on issues teens are going through, like self-esteem, family relationships, and worries about the future.
- Quick and easy―Find exercises that you can do anytime in just a few minutes, like power posing, mindful eating, and mindful walking.
- Inspirational quotes―Read powerful words from a variety of figures that encourage you to find your strength and face your fears.
Hands Free Life: Nine Habits for Overcoming Distraction, Living Better, and Loving More
By Rachel Macy Stafford
We all yearn to look back to find we lived a life of significance. But is it even possible anymore? Considering the amount of distraction and pressure that exists in society today, living a fulfilling life may seem like an unachievable dream. But it is not—not with the nine habits outlined in this book.
New York Times bestselling author and widely known blogger, Rachel Macy Stafford, reveals nine habits that help you focus on investing in the most significant parts of your life. As your hands, heart, and eyes become open, you will experience a new sense of urgency—an urgency to live, love, dream, connect, create, forgive, and flourish despite the distractions of our culture.
Liked: Whose Approval Are You Living For?
by Kari Kampakis
For many girls it starts early. The desire to be perfect. The need for approval. The longing for acceptance and being liked by a lot of people.
Thanks to social media, these desires now get channeled online. Girls can curate an image, build a following, and test-drive identities until they find one that draws attention and applause.
But in this quest to be liked and noticed, girls often fail to feel loved and known. The result is a generation of girls who hunger for real and authentic relationships – yet are unclear on how to create them.
From popular blogger and bestselling author Kari Kampakis comes a powerful book for girls in the digital age. Designed to empower teens and tweens through the Christian faith, it’s packed with godly wisdom and practical advice related to identity, friendships, social media, and a relationship with God.
Live in Light: 5-Minute Devotions for Teen Girls
by Melanie Redd
Crushes, girl squad drama, school stress—not to mention figuring out who you are and what you want to be when you grow up—a lot happens in your teens that can make you feel left in the dark. Find the light—open this book and let the Scripture be your guide.
Live In Light is every girl’s guide to tackling their teenage years with the wisdom and comfort of the Bible. From navigating the pressure to be “perfect” on social media to dating and dealing with frenemies, these 5-minute devotionals help you to become the woman that both you and God want you to be.
Inside these teen devotionals for girls, you’ll find:
- 5-minute devotionals—Bring the Bible into your day at any moment with quick and practical readings.
- Relatable Scripture—Unpack lessons from the Bible with anecdotes you can apply to your daily life.
- A spiritual toolkit—Relate God’s words to challenges and topics like social media, body image, self-worth and more.
In a world filled with change, this book offers unwavering guidance to live under the bright light of faith.
Love Her Well:10 Ways to Find Joy and Connection with Your Teenage Daughter
by Kari Kampakis
Moms are eager for tips and wisdom to help them build strong relationships with their daughters, and Kari Kampakis’s Love Her Well gives them ten practical ways to do so, not by changing their daughters but by changing their own thoughts, actions, and mind-set.
For many women, having a baby girl is a dream come true. Yet as girls grow up, the narrative of innocence and joy changes to gloom and doom as moms are told, “Just wait until she’s a teenager!” and handed a disheartening script that treats a teenage girl’s final years at home as solely a season to survive.
"After being so confused online and feeling hopeless, you provided me with information I could actually use to help my son. Thank you so much!"