Helping teens cope ...

Here are a couple of newer texts offering suggestions on helping teens get through the school year:

ANYTHING BUT MY PHONE, MOM! is written by Roni Cohen-Sandler and as the subtitle, “Raising Emotionally Resilient Daughters in the Digital Age,” makes clear, this text is geared towards parents. Cohen-Sandler, a licensed clinical psychologist, draws on her many years of experience counseling teenagers and adults (she quotes both mothers and daughters) in order to provide some solid advice especially on newer issues like social media, cyberbullying, school safety concerns, and the lingering impact of COVID-19.  Cohen-Sandler adopts a conversational tone, and readily acknowledges that “although raising a daughter can be one of the most deeply gratifying and meaningful experiences, it is rarely easy. … Accept that you won’t always know the ‘right’ thing to say or do.” She splits the text into three sections: first, looking at “cultural forces” and their impact on girls and their families; then, a focus on skills and habits that daughters need; and, finally, a discussion of applying strategies to everyday challenges (there is an entire chapter devoted to homework). I can readily imagine a parent returning to this text time and again, especially given Cohen-Sandler’s patient, common sense, and research-based suggestions. Library Journal described ANYTHING BUT MY PHONE, MOM! as “a must-read for parents of teenage girls.”

ATTENTION HIJACKED by Erica B. Marcus, a former English teacher and now full-time mindfulness instructor, is her attempt to “offer perspectives, awareness activities, and practices that can help you shift toward the relationship you want with technology.” She is a strong advocate for “Using Mindfulness to Reclaim Your Brain from Tech” and begins by exploring both the pluses and minuses of technology use. From there, she moves on to describing mindfulness and how it can be applied, especially relative to technology use by teens. Booklist gave a starred review and recommended ATTENTION HIJACKED for high school students, but I am not sure that they are going to be willing to devote time to reading it. Instead, I think getting copies to Social Workers, Guidance Counselors, and Health teachers could be much more productive.  That would allow these adults to sift through Marcus’ many recommendations for journal prompts, visualization or audio exercises, and other resources and to then choose those which would work best for their specific teen audience. Repetition and practice is key with mindfulness, especially if tackling tech addiction in some form. Over the years, we have developed a large collection of books on mindfulness, and a personal favorite is Learning to Breathe which relies on research and develops a B-R-E-A-T-H-E strategy for participants. Prior to COVID, we spent a year working on this program with advisories, but much more could – and should – be done.

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting

IONA IVERSON'S RULES FOR COMMUTING by Clare Pooley (The Authenticity Project) is a fun summer read. Iona is truly unique – she is an older, well-established magazine therapist (certainly not, as she informs others, an agony aunt) who offers advice and guidance in her own eccentric way (carrying a huge bag stuffed with everything and accompanied by a French bulldog named Lulu). There’s concern (and some ageism) at the magazine involving worry that she’s become out of touch and irrelevant to readers, but her vitality is acknowledged and re-invigorated after surprising interactions with some other commuters on her daily train near London. Piers (a financial trader), Sanjay (a nurse), Emmie (works in advertising), and Martha (still in high school and struggling with social relationships) form a community of sorts as they bond over adventures on (and off) the train and affection for Iona. Told by multiple narrators, IONA IVERSON'S RULES FOR COMMUTING received a starred review (“YAs will revel in Pooley's upbeat and funny intergenerational novel about strangers finding common ground“) from Booklist and is a LibraryReads selection for June 2022.

8 Billion and Counting and Crossing Borders

8 BILLION AND COUNTING by Jennifer D. Sciubba is an examination of demographic trends and their policy implications, or, as the subtitle explains, a look at “How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World.”  Sciubba is an associate professor of International Studies at Rhodes College and a former demographics consultant to the United States Department of Defense. In this new text she wades through a great deal of statistics and offers plenty of numbers for the data geeks in her audience.  Simultaneously, she also stretches her readers' imaginations regarding social and cultural shifts.  For example, she describes extremes, referencing the aging population in Japan and the growth in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria whose population is projected to exceed that of the United States by 2050. In addition to discussing fertility rates and lifespans, Sciubba also turns to developing concerns like climate migration, a topic of interest in the past few years for our Junior Theme students. She devotes a chapter to “Warfare and Wombfare,” commenting “as the pace of demographic change accelerates – particularly ethnic, racial, and religious composition – we should expect identity conflicts to intensify.”  Another powerful chapter on economic impacts is titled “Marx versus Malthus.” Overall, Sciubba is very informative and encourages further probing; roughly thirty percent of the text is devoted to notes which will be invaluable for other researchers. Her surprisingly stimulating look at the future has also made me curious to investigate some of the related titles of interest to her readers such as The Human Tide, The Devil Never Sleeps, and The Agile College.

CROSSING BORDERS by Ali Noorani is subtitled “The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants” and focuses more narrowly on the immigration experience for individuals and families. President and CEO of the advocacy group named National Immigration Forum, Noorani shares stories based on his travels and conversations with immigrants and the organizations who support them. He writes eloquently of changes since the 2008 financial collapse, concluding that “Skepticism about immigration has become fear of immigrants” and that “By weaponizing immigration, Trump mainstreamed hate.” Noorani details visits to cities and towns in Arizona, Texas, and Honduras to support his views on the need for immigration reform. He cites numerous other examples and political actions, although seems to struggle to summarize key points. Roughly a third of this text is filled with notes, a bibliography, and a useful index. A list of resources  and contact information for places like the Migration Policy Institute, RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, in Texas) or even Pew Research Center would have been a valuable addition.

The Key to Deceipt and The Lost Summers of Newport

THE KEY TO DECEIT by Ashley Weaver is her second historical mystery, after A Peculiar Combination, about Ellie McDonnell, a young woman who is trying to use her safecracking skills to aid the UK government’s wartime efforts. In this latest offering, set in 1940 as the Blitz begins in earnest, McDonnell is involved with uncovering and thwarting a German spy ring which is photographing the docks in London. There is plenty of adventure and numerous puzzles to solve, although this time Weaver slowed the pace by putting just a bit too much emphasis on Ellie’s choice of possible romance with a longtime family friend, Felix Lacey, or with her policeman handler, Major Ramsey. THE KEY TO DECEIT received starred reviews from Booklist (“thoroughly ingenious blend of rom-com and spy cozy”) and from Publishers Weekly. The historical setting and strong, feisty female character will especially appeal to fans of mystery writers like Susan Elia MacNeal, Sujata Massey, and Frances Brody. 

THE LOST SUMMERS OF NEWPORT by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White tells three intertwined stories spanning several generations: 1899 where Ellen who is fleeing for her life pretends to be a music teacher for a newly wealthy family in Newport, Rhode Island; 1957 centers on Lucky, trapped in an unhappy society marriage; and 2019 involves Andie, an architectural historian stuck in a host role on a reality TV show that is renovating the family mansion. Similar to an earlier collaborative effort titled All the Ways We Said Goodbye, this new novel explores the roles of women at various points in time and raises questions about the limited choices women often face. Lucky tells Andie, “You have a rare fighting spirit not seen in ordinary people. It allows you to pursue your dreams against enormous odds while at the same time being generous with your love and time to those who need you.” Early reader reviews for this combination of history and mystery are quite positive, indicating a definite appetite for more from this trio of talented writers. THE LOST SUMMERS OF NEWPORT received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.  

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe

LAST SUMMER ON STATE STREET by Toya Wolfe is so evocative of a time and place, centering on a group of friends who live in public housing in Chicago in 1999. That was a period of transition for the neighborhood as well as for these four young adolescents, just 12 or 13: “Fe Fe” Stevens, Precious Brown, Stacia Buchanan, and newcomer “Tonya from the Ten,” a catalyst for change in the group. Initially, the girls spend carefree summer days – playing four square or Double Dutch jump rope, but gradually the violence of gang presence, worries over housing being lease compliant, and even sexual abuse invade their reality. Their paths diverge with some ending up “in the system” under foster care or having a brother sent to prison, while others move away and finish college. Years later, a chance reunion allows revisiting the events of that fateful summer. A very well-written debut novel, LAST SUMMER ON STATE STREET received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and from Booklist which called it a “fictional counterpart” to Dawn Turner’s Three Girls from Bronzeville. Book groups and literature circles will find much (poverty, racism, police action, Chicago politics, drug addiction, gang pressure, and family loyalty) to discuss and debate.

Growing Up Chicago

GROWING UP CHICAGO, edited by David Schaafsma, Lauren DeJulio Bell and Roxanne Pilat, is described by the publisher (Northwestern University Press) as “a collection of coming-of-age stories that reflects the diversity of the city and its metropolitan area.” Given the local connections and list of contributors which includes Samira Ahmed, Stuart Dybek, Nnedi Okorafor, and George Saunders, I was excited to browse this book. The Foreword, from Luis Alberto Urrea, notes that he and the editors are all affiliated with the University of Chicago, “involved in the literary life of this city: as teachers, as facilitators, even helping nonprofit literary outreach programs get a footing here” and originally created this book for high school or college audiences. Our students, particularly those in Senior writing classes will learn much from the varied selections. Rebecca Makkai, for example, contributed a short piece titled “Children of the Fifty-Sixers: Growing Up in Hungarian Chicago” and she readily talks about Chicago’s neighborhoods; about details of the immigrant experience – such as seeing the produce section at Jewel for the first time; and about what it means to be American: “to be both from here and from away, to belong also to a land you’ve never known, to look with perpetual wonder at the lemons in the grocery store.” Chicago's diversity is also reflected in an excerpt from Erika L. Sanchez’s National Book Award Finalist I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and commentary (“I feel as if I grew up with three languages: English, Italian, and Chicago”) from award-winning author Tony Romano and many more. Look for a copy on our shelves soon.

So Help Me Golf by Rick Reilly

SO HELP ME GOLF by Rick Reilly is subtitled Why We Love the Game; Reilly, bestselling author and former National Sportswriter of the Year, provides plenty of reasons. In this collection, he shares anecdotes about his own family, particularly his alcoholic golfing father, as well as insights from professional golfers. One of those describes Lucas Glover’s battles with the yips, causing him to putt short ones with his eyes closed: “I haven’t hit a short putt on tour with my eyes open in four or five years. Nobody ever seems to notice.” Reilly later describes Phil Mickelson as “always as open as a brand-new Safeway” and “easily the most fascinating athlete I’ve ever covered” and then praises Mickelson’s natural curiosity and breadth of knowledge, including how to make pavlovas for dessert. There’s another section filled with factoids about “the Greatest Player Who Ever Lived,” JackNicklaus, (“One word with a capital N in it. Like there was only one way to say the name of somebody this cool.”).  SO HELP ME GOLF will make an entertaining read for the golfers and sports enthusiasts in your life.  Booklist describes Reilly’s latest as a “delightful recap of a life spent on and around golf courses” and gives it a starred review. Enjoy!!