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so ask already!!! > Resilience building stories for teens

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message 1: by Marzena (new)

Marzena | 2 comments I am looking for book recommendations for a 15 year old girl who is quite mature for her age but who is not an avid reader. Junior High has put her through the roller coaster of failed friendships, some bullying, and betrayal, and she could use some cheering up and some inspiration through the summer. Ideally the book would have a positive takeaway message and a somewhat a happy end. Some themes I am looking into:
- friendships
-resilience
-difficulties building character

I am grateful for any and all suggestions. At this point she is having difficulty connecting with 'fantasy' themes in general.


message 2: by Betsy (new)

Betsy | 190 comments I don't know many books for teens, but if she doesn't mind science fiction, there's a series that might fit the bill. Don't let the scifi genre deter you. It's not about battles and technology, or even space. It's about settling a new planet. The heroine (age 11 in the first book, 15 in the last three) has trouble making friends or even relating to people her own age, for a variety of reasons. But she learns gradually to accept that her peers are not the total idiots or monsters that she thought them. The first book is A Beautiful Friendship.


message 3: by Marzena (new)

Marzena | 2 comments Thank you. We'll give it a try.


message 4: by Leane (new)

Leane (fiictionnqueen) Marzena wrote: "I am looking for book recommendations for a 15 year old girl who is quite mature for her age but who is not an avid reader. Junior High has put her through the roller coaster of failed friendships,..."

Both contain Positive endings and stories about individual growth for this age group: Johnson, Maureen. 13 Little Blue Envelopes. When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to crisscross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.
Merullo, Roland. The Talk-Funny Girl. Raised in isolation in New Hampshire, Marjorie seems to be from another planet with its own language. Her seventeenth year brings love and possibly freedom from her dangerous parents.
And maybe some nonfiction like Jeannette Wall's The Glass Castle. Nice way to present perspective and also positive ending.
Hope this helps,
Leane Ellis


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