Better with Books : 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teen by Melissa Hart

Do you ever feel like things are moving too quickly?  Like you just want it all to stop?  Or maybe, instead, you just want someone to understand what you’re going through…

I found that this book was an answer to that; a safe place, and a place where the characters are so real, that they feel like they are sitting right beside you.

This is a contemporary fiction book, meaning that it is fiction related to the world today, and to tell you the truth, this book doesn’t seem like it is fiction, it seems so real.  This book really helps to empower empathy, for each reader himself, for their peers, for their family, and for the world around them.  As anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and mental illness are reaching increasingly high numbers, this book helps tweens and teens deal with that, without feeling like they are the problem.  Each chapter tackles a different issue affecting tweens and teens today… bullying, peer pressure, racism, learning disabilities, o

r homophobia, just to list a few.

I would recommend this book for teens, or even young adults, who sometimes find themselves feeling isolated, stressed, anxious, or just really low, which happens to all of us, and this book was really helpful in explaining different things that are happening in the world, and how to deal with them.

– Rachel L