anxiety

Mr. Wells reached out to me about his new book and shared a copy. I liked this book with lots of exercises and tools for the young people in your life, your own teens included! It’s not meant to replace therapy but to provide some thoughtful activities and exercises for teens.

Here’s the scoop:

Many teens appear fine on the outside.

They keep up with school, show up for their friends, and answer “I’m good” when anyone asks. Underneath, something else may be happening. They feel overwhelmed, stressed, or stuck in their own thoughts, but they may struggle to put it into words and don’t always know what to do with it.

The Teens’ Guide to Navigate Emotions was created for this exact moment. It doesn’t lecture, it doesn’t label, and it doesn’t ask teens to explain what they’re feeling first. Instead, it gives them something they can use on their own, in their own space, at their own pace.

Inside, teens will learn how to:

Calm Overwhelming Thoughts – Simple tools they can use when their thoughts start racing or emotions feel overwhelming
Handle Stress in the Moment – Short, guided exercises that can help them reset and work through difficult moments
Make Sense of What They’re Feeling – Reflection prompts that help them understand their emotions without judgment or pressure
Build Confidence and Self-Esteem – Practical exercises for developing a stronger sense of self and feeling more comfortable in social situations
Work Through Anger and Frustration – Strategies for recognizing intense emotions and responding to them more intentionally
Strengthen Communication – Tools for expressing thoughts, feelings, needs, and boundaries more clearly
Build Practical Coping Skills – Useful ways to handle anxiety, overthinking, stress, and other challenges as they come up in everyday life
Feel Less Alone in What They’re Going Through – Relatable real-life examples that remind teens they aren’t the only ones dealing with difficult emotions

Created for ages 12-18, this 340+ page guide combines relatable explanations and real-life examples with 40+ CBT-based exercises and tools, including guided activities, action steps, and reflection pages. Teens can use the book independently or with support from a parent, caregiver, educator, counselor, or other trusted adult, giving them practical tools they can return to whenever they need them.

Me again!

(Just a note that CBT stands for Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, which primarily focuses on how your thoughts can affect your feelings and consequent actions).

This is a hefty book of over 300 pages and I’ll be gifting it to our school’s wonderful Student Support Clinician.

Thank you, Mr. Wells, for sharing your work with me!

About the Author:

Ethan Wells is an author passionate about helping teenagers better understand their emotions, build confidence, and develop practical skills for navigating life’s challenges. Inspired by his own experiences growing up, Ethan often reflects on how much he would have benefited from having access to the kind of emotional guidance and support he now hopes to share with others. That perspective inspired him to create resources that make emotional well-being feel more approachable, relatable, and manageable for young people.

Through his writing, Ethan aims to turn complex emotional concepts into simple, engaging, and actionable strategies that teenagers can apply to their everyday lives. Drawing on evidence-informed approaches, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), he focuses on encouraging self-awareness, emotional resilience, and personal growth without overwhelming readers with complicated terminology. His hope is that every teenager who picks up his work walks away feeling a little more understood, a little more capable, and better equipped to handle whatever life brings their way.

I absolutely loved this story about young Bea and her changing family situation. Bea is in fifth grade and her parents have divorced (which she is still fully adjusting to) and her father is going to remarry. This is a huge shift for her. She will now have two dads, and a new step sister (she always wanted a sister) who lives in CA. That’s a lot of change and Bea, with her anxiety and her eczema, is keeping her list to give her some sense of steadiness. Add in some issues at school and you’ve got a touching and realistic novel.

I adore Rececca Stead’s writing and often recommend it for my students. She treated the topics in this book so sensitively yet honestly that I can imagine that many readers will be touched by Bea’s story, like I was.

Thank you, Net Galley and Wendy Lamb Books, for my copy!

Description

EIGHT STARRED REVIEWS! The reassuring book kids and families need right now.

“An absolute original . . . a story that kids will love.” –R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of Wonder

At a time when everything is changing for Bea and her family, the important things will always stay the same. A soon-to-be classic by the Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach Me.

After her parents’ divorce, Bea’s life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other.

When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she’ll finally (finally!) have what she’s always wanted–a sister. Even though she’s never met Jesse’s daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they’ll be “just like sisters anywhere.”

As the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy, and readers will discover why the New York Times called Rebecca Stead a “writer of great feeling.”