But the stories were all so narrow in range; they seemed to take a very conservative, closed viewpoint in that there was never any mention of drug abuse, ex-prisoners, people who had dropped out of school and had been successful, or homosexuality. Considering the modern day and age, I found this disheartening to say the least. Almost all the stories were based around students (not surprising considering the target audience) which rather narrowed down the variety. Lena's parents are getting a divorce. Lena's friends have told her they are leaving her because she hasn't changed. Lena also doesn't feel pretty. Lena is going through a hard time both at school and at home. She doesn't have anyone to talk to about it.

I followed them around, laughing when they told jokes, agreeing when they had opinions – most enthusiastically at the ones I disagreed with. I didn’t say much. I wouldn’t want them to think I was being rude by disagreeing. This continued for several months. Another thing that really got to me was that the title suggests that these stories are meant to be soothing- but they just made me feel depressed; it's normally only the last two lines that are happy. Some things that had stood out to me, are the chapters they included. I enjoyed how each chapter's situation varies from Self-acceptance, to drugs and alcohol, to even death and dying. Although people who read this know that these things are serious, they know that these things are common and teens who read this know what they can expect if they read it. that is why I recommend this book for teens and young adults. on top of that, they include resources of organizations that can help with things like these situations like abuse for example. I’ve always heard stories about how parenting today’s teens are “a dreaded few years,” but I’m here to tell you that it’s just not true. On the contrary, the preteen & teen years are wonderful, and parenting a teenager is like a reward for putting in the time & energy when our children are younger. I began listening to the music she listened to, wearing the clothes she wore. I quit reading and started watching TV programs Ashley watched. I even tailored my sophomore year schedule to her interests.

Brianne Monett’s story is just one of the inspirational stories in the book. There are so many stories filled with positive thinking from teenagers. The stories range from stories of hope to stories of finding ways of stopping the stressed, sleep-deprived behavior and focusing on the positive side of things. Also, many of them are unrealistic; they seem to go on and on about how everything has a happy ending. But that's just not the case... In my opinion, it's giving teenagers the wrong idea about success. I loved how this novel consists of stories told by the people who actually lived them. You can feel the honesty they’ve written it down with, the feelings they poured into their words. With all the different stories, you just know that they’re all feel unique too and I loved that. In saying that, though, there was one thing that I did have a problem with and that’s the simple fact that you don’t always know what’s going to be said in a story, what it’s going to be about. For someone who stays clear of certain triggers, this might be a problem because you don’t always figure it out until it’s too late. Sure, the themes give you some clue of the subject, but it’s not always very clear. Or there are actually two themes going on and the second one sneaks up on you. Adolescence tests our character – our strengths and weaknesses. We hope that this book will help or has helped us come out of it alive and whole.

Then her mother gave her advice… so simple, but so effective. She had heard it a million times before, but suddenly it sounded profound: Ashley learned something that year… through her heartbreak, she discovered the person she was going to be. This book is a text to world book. I say this becasue this book is from teenagers/adults (who remeber storys or there teenage years) and anybody can relate to the storys. Some people in this book have storys that may have happened to the person thats reading the book or it might make a person learn a lesson or improve there life. This storys will make anyone have any kind of feeling and make them care and be happy for all the opertunitys they have and love life more.

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Interesting:I liked how even though i havent been abused or done drugs i know all the consequences that could follow and i could feel their pain. Now, today’s parents and grandparents can provide a new generation of teenagers with the same guidance, comfort, and inspiration the previous generation enjoyed, with stories that are up to date and relevant to their lives.

When we started school again, Ashley introduced me to her group of friends, the “cool girls.” She was the leader of their group; I would hang out with them on lunch breaks and take classes they were in. I would tag along to football games, and I joined the art club after school so I could hang out with them even more.

I had brought this anthology many years ago and I have never got around to finishing it, so I decided to finish it. This anthology had also been recommended to me by my pervious teachers and it was been such an inspirational and delightful anthology to read. Growing up is not easy. There are times when we find that adolescence challenges us the most. We become confused with our roles, our identities, and sometimes comes a point when we break our relationships with people around us, and worse, our relationship with our own selves.

Ashley agreed, but to make it worse, she said, “I know, I wish she would leave us alone. We were in summer school together and now she thinks we’re best friends or something. Get a life.” She just follows you around trying to be you. She copies you; she doesn’t have a personality of own.” another girl said. I liked about three or five of the (tens of) contributions in this book, at least one of which was by an adult. I think that part of the problem in my not liking this book is the part where I'm no longer a teenager. I'm sure that the themes and writing in the book might be more appealing to a teenager than to an adult, because by virtue of being written by a peer they are valued? But honestly I think highly enough of teenagers' capacity to read and write that I can't imagine most of them liking this book either. Although Lena didn't haver her old friend or her parents, she had Diana, her new friend. Diana made Lena feel pretty. Lena said that even though she didn't talk about her feelings with the popular girl, she didn't feel alone anymore.Lena needs her friends to help her get through her parent's divorce, but they left her. In turn, Lena needs her parent's support over losing her friends, but they are getting a divorce. Lena feels alone. Canfield's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret," and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life. Achieving dreams, friendship, attitude and perspective, love and life were on a few of the chapter themes in the book. Each chapter was laced with a poem to express the theme. My favorite poem was about friendship. Each poem gave the chapter the perfect introduction as to what the chapter was going to be about. The chapter was filled with stories from different authors writing about the theme. Stories told by real people talking about their life stories and situations. I thing these chapters are were designed to somehow connect with the readers individual life situations and fell them in with some kind of comfort to let them know that theirs other people out there going through or previously went through the same thing. My favourite quote from the story “Run with it” is “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” This motivational quote was my favourite because it told me that I can make a change, and I can make it now. Not tomorrow, not next week, now. We don’t need to wait for the perfect opportunity, we need to find the perfect opportunity. I have been given enough in life and I have the ability to use my resources as a way to make change or help another. What I have is simply enough and I don’t need to wait for the right moment, because the right moment is now. Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.