Hot Stones and Funny Bones: Teens Helping Teens Cope with Stress and Anger ANNOTATION
Provides an inside look at ways in which teens cope with their stress and anger, such as keeping a journal, meditating, or having a good laugh, and includes advice for parents and other teens.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
More than seventy-five teens from across the country were interviewed on a range of topics and issues: parents, friends, sports, clothes, school violence and peer pressure. With the passion and frustration expressed by teens in their narratives, as well as in their artwork and poetry, this book is a unique combination of original teen contributions and effective stress- and anger-management techniques from a mental-health professional. Most important, it was designed expressly for teens.
Hot Stones and Funny Bones is divided in three sections. "Telling It Like It Is" highlights problems and issues that nearly every teen faces in the middle- and high-school years, expressed in their own voices. The second section, "The Best Way to Cope with Stress", offers a host of coping skills and relaxation techniques for teens to utilize, ranging from ways to boost self-esteem and effective anger-management skills, to meditation and creative expression. The third section, "Final Comments From Teens", reveals opinions, lessons learned and advice to parents and teenagers about the struggles and triumphs of teen years. In addition, every chapter includes "Thoughts, Reflections and Action Plans", where teens can process what they've learned, using the information to make healthy behavioral changes.
With all the stress and gamut of emotions in our hectic-and at times chaotic-world, this book will be a hit with teens trying to make sense of it all and stay sane at the same time.
FROM THE CRITICS
VOYA - Cynthia Gueswel
Here is a lucid, palatable self-help book for teens, largely written by teens. Seaward, a health psychologist and author of several other self-help books, teams up with a middle-school teacher to provide not only researched advice, but also hundreds of comments and suggestions from teens across the nation, aged thirteen through eighteen. The result is engaging and authentic. Topics covered demonstrate how to deal with anger and stress, boost self-esteem, handle relationships with friends and parents, and incorporate meditation, relaxation, humor, and environmental consciousness into one's life. The book includes Thoughts and Reflections sections every few pages, prompting readers to respond to specific questions related to the text. Two examples are "In what ways do you feel anger surface during the course of a normal day?" and from the section on "reconnecting to the source" as a method for stress reduction, "Do you have a relationship with something higher than yourself? If so, how do you nurture this relationship?" Although the questions are probing, the space allotted for truly reflective answers is inadequate. Most teens will likely consider the questions but not use the text as a workbook, which would make this book a less practical purchase for libraries. Seaward and Bartlett admirably weave together background information, insightful teen advice, and areas for reflection into a clear structure. The appeal of this book will certainly come from the authors' belief in the power of the peer voice. Illus. Photos. Further Reading. VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7to 9). 2002, Health Communications, 376p,
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