Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff

Title: Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff

Author: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger

ISBN: 978-1-558-74942-9

Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 9th and Up

Publisher: HCI Teens

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2001

Genre: Non-Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  Coming-of-age tales that will help to sooth the souls of teenagers everywhere.   

Plot Summary:  Like the plethora of other Chicken Soup for the Soul books that have come before this, it contains a collection of stories written by different authors.  In this case, teenagers are the ones sharing stories.  The content includes topics relating to self acceptance, drugs and alcohol, relationships, and peer pressure, among other social issues.  The young adult contributors help to convey the message that other teenagers, facing many of the issues discussed in Tough Stuff, are not alone.   

Evaluation:  (B)  With a wide variety of social issues, teenagers will surely be able to relate to or learn from experiences and insights shared by their peers.  Canfield, Hansen, and Kirberger select a handful of articulate and expressive teenagers to compose the pages within this book.  It is the honesty and sincerity of some of the young contributors makes this edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul appealing.    

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• Teaching Ideas and Other Resources
• It's Rough Out There: Teen Life and Issues Fiction Booklist

Skinny

Title: Skinny

Author: Ibi Kaslik

ISBN: 978-0-8027-9738-4

Recommended Grade Level of Reader:  9th and Up

Publisher: Walker and Company

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2004

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation: A struggle to be thin. A story of family, perfection and dysfunction told from two different points-of-view.

Plot Summary:  Skinny tells the story of two sisters, Giselle and Holly.  Giselle, a former medical student, has been battling anorexia.  Holly, a high school athlete, has been struggling to deal with her older sister’s disease.  Being a top student and a perfectionist, Giselle has to discontinue her medical studies in order to deal with the disease that consumes her.  As such, she has to move back home with her mother and Holly.  Slowly, Giselle begins to uncover the reasons that led to her self-destruction.  Told from the point-of view of each sister, this novel documents the affect an eating disorder has not only on one individual, but also those that surround him or her. 

Evaluation:  (B)  While the idea of how one’s struggle with anorexia affects more than just the victim is interesting, Ibi Kaslik had difficulty setting up the story.  Skinny was not engaging in the beginning which made for a boring read.  A disconnect may have occurred as a result of the story being told from two people’s points-of-views.  The novel bounced around too much for the reader to become attached to or get to know either character in the first half of the book.  The author could have shown more character depth by telling the story from one character’s perspective instead of two.  Giselle’s story could have been told effectively through her point-of-view or by Holly a la Julie Anne Peters’ Regan in Luna.          

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• Physical and Mental Diseases and Disabilities
• Body Image and Eating Disorders