Wildhood by Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers

WILDHOOD by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers is subtitled “The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals.” And what an intriguing read it is!  Readers can explore peer-pressure in salmon (who knew?) and courtship behavior in humpback whales, plus many more examples from the animal kingdom. The authors (Natterson-Horowitz is a visiting professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard and Bowers is a science journalist) previously collaborated on the New York Times bestseller Zoobiquity. In WILDHOOD, they use chapters divided into four parts representing key life skills (Safety, Status, Sex, and Self-reliance) in order to discuss parallels with our own species. Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers write about impulsivity and the “teenage brain” as well as social hierarchies and “association with high status animals.” Truly fascinating, their writing is scientific, but accessible and of interest across disciplines like Psych, Science, and Kinetic Wellness classes. The authors also raise issues that some Junior Theme students are already exploring, too, like the impact for humans of having to learn these life skills both in a real world and a virtual one. Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers recently published an essay, called “Adolescents Go Wild – And Not Just Humans” in The Wall Street Journal (available online at school) which gives a brief overview of their research.

The text itself includes a glossary of terms, almost fifty pages of detailed notes and a helpful index. WILDHOOD received starred reviews from Booklist (“Teens might like reading about their counterparts in the animal kingdom”) and Publishers Weekly. Find it on our shelves soon!

It's a Whole Spiel

IT'S A WHOLE SPIEL is edited by Katherine Locke and contains a collection of stories about Jewish teens.  I was excited to see a preview because we are working especially hard this year on representing more diverse voices in our collection. It’s important to note that I did not read all of the stories, but the ones I read seemed to be geared to a younger high school or maybe late middle school audience. I think that is partly because of the rather naïve stance from some characters and because many of the selections deal with belonging and fitting in, a critical issue for less mature teens. IT'S A WHOLE SPIEL does address questions concerning both gender and religious identity and it contains stories by David Levithan, Adi Alsaid, and Nova Ren Suma, along with other YA authors who will be familiar names to students. 

In addition to getting ideas from this short story collection, I would suggest looking at some of the titles which were profiled in a recent (August 2019) VOYA article by Adela Peskorz called “Past and Present Intertwined.” There, she explored Jewish themes and characters from titles like In the Neighborhood of True, Spinning Silver, We Regret to Inform You, and Anne Frank’s Diary: the graphic adaptation.

Under Pressure by Lisa Damour and related titles

UNDER PRESSURE by Lisa Damour is one of those books that we cannot keep on our shelves, despite owning multiple copies.  Damour, who also wrote Untangled about guiding teenage girls to adulthood, discusses “Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls” in her latest title.  She draws from her experiences as a clinical psychologist and writes in a conversational tone about the issues girls face, especially how anxiety “seems to have spun out of control.” While acknowledging that “anxious feelings are becoming more prevalent among all young people,” she cites research that indicates this is happening at a faster pace for girls.  Damour succinctly contrasts stress (“usually refers to the feeling of emotional or mental strain or tension”) and anxiety (“usually refers to the feeling of fear, dread, or panic”).  There is an entire chapter related to girls at school where she highlights the findings that “teenagers with a stress-build-strength mindset were much less upset by difficult life events … than those with a stress-does-harm mindset” and acknowledges that (1) recovery strategies are highly personal although (2) having one is vital because “intellectual growth depends on doing both hard work and replenishing one’s reserves.”

UNDER PRESSURE contains roughly twenty-five pages of note, plus recommended reading related to EACH chapter for parents and girls (the latter seems more geared to middle school or early high school readers, however).  For more examples of Damour’s thoughts, check out this profile from KQED and her recent New York Times articles:  2/12: How to Help Teens Weather Their Emotional Storms or 2/7:  Why Girls Beat Boys at School and Lose to Them at the Office  or 1/16: How to Help Tweens and Teens Manage Social Conflict

BRAVE, NOT PERFECT by Reshma Saujani is subtitled “Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder.” Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code stresses that “boys are taught to be brave, while girls are taught to be perfect” and that results in women who are afraid to fail. In this text, she shares events from her own life, like her 2010 unsuccessful run for Congress, to encourage others to take risks. Additional examples tend to be grounded in popular culture, such as one chapter which refers to Helen Mirren, Chelsea Manning and Taylor Swift. Saujani’s advice is meant to be entertaining and memorable, with sections titled “In a World Full of Princesses, Dare to be a Hot Dog” or “Strategy: Start Before You’re Ready.” However, she makes many serious points: “risky acts – like taking an unpopular stand – might be scary, but they often end up being the ones that are most appreciated and celebrated.” You can read an excerpt here.