Teen Corner Book Spotlight: Make it a Great Day: The Choice is Yours Series

The past few years have been tough on many of us as our worlds changed without much warning--and continue to re-form in new states of normal.  While it was tough for adults to adapt to change, isolation, fear and loss--it was also challenging for teens and children.  From isolation to educational challenges--teens, who already face so many mental and health and wellness struggles--more stressors were placed on our vulnerable youth.  I think we are only just beginning to accept, appreciate and understand just how much the events and actvities of the past few years have impacted our families and our children!  

 

I recently had the opportunity to read a couple of the books from a wonderful self help, inspirational series compiled by Jackie Simmons! Today, I wanted to take a few minutes to share these books with you!  Check out Make it a Great Day:  The Choice is Yours and read my thoughts on this series!

 About the Series

Why this book . . .

We believe . . . Friends Don't Let Friends SELF-DELETE

Suicides are on the rise around the world. Here in North America, we’re experiencing a suicide epidemic. We believe that suicide is an EVERYBODY PROBLEM to solve.

We’ve found that nowadays, there’s one in every room.

In every room you walk into, in-person or online, there’s at least one person grieving the loss of a loved one to suicide, and in every room, there’s at least one person struggling to stay alive.

Our mission at the Teen Suicide Prevention Society is to end teen suicide. We believe that busting the myths, exposing the challenges, exploring the options, and most importantly, sharing the preventions is the fastest path to accomplish our mission, and we need speed because we’ve learned:

“You can’t tell by looking.”

You can't tell by looking just who's at risk, grieving, or struggling. You can’t tell by looking who’s happy or who’s masking.

You can’t tell by looking who’s a little down or who’s so “down” they’ve forgotten what “up” feels like. So, instead of “waiting for signs” (a.k.a.: “looking for trouble''), we’ve got a more proactive approach for you.

We believe in taking action before you think it’s needed, before your friend or loved one is obviously struggling. Our pure-prevention approach gives your friends and loved ones a buffer between themselves and an edge they may not even know they’re near, a.k.a.: “suicide-proofing” them.

We call it: “Emotional Cage Fighting.”

We know that some of your friends, family, and peers are dying for you to invite them into “The Cage” with you. They’re afraid to talk about how they’re feeling except in the most damaging way possible . . .

Did you know that teens call suicide: “self-deleting?” That’s right, “self-deleting” as if it's not a big deal. No different than hitting the delete key on a keyboard or ending a video game.

However, ending this game, the one we call “Life,” is a little different.

1. It’s permanent.
2. When one person takes their own life, they massively impact a minimum of 20 people who care about them.
3. Worse, when one person takes their own life, they give tacit permission for everyone who knows them to do the same. This is why suicide is considered a contagious “dis-ease.”
4. Finally, odds are, those who are closest will end up saying: “We never saw it coming.”

“We never saw it coming.” are the saddest words in the world. We never want you to hear them said about a friend or loved one. We never, ever want you to say them about a friend or loved one. AND we never, ever, ever want your friends or loved ones to say them about YOU.

We want you to know that we’ve got your back, we’re not going to send you into “The Cage” alone or unarmed.

All we need to know is, are you willing?
Are you willing to fight for the lives of your friends and loved ones?
Are you willing to get into “The Cage” with them and not come out until you know they’re “suicide-proofed,” at least a little?

Thank you. Ready?

The key to going into “The Cage” with confidence and coming out with all of your parts and pieces intact, including your relationships with your friends and loved ones, is to simply follow “The Guide.” That’s right, you’ve got a guide to help you prevent suicide.

My Thoughts

These books are filled with emotional stories of inspiration and hope. The books combine an eclectic group of authors contributing various personal stories of hope, advice, perspective, inspiration, and life lessons. So often, we spend so much time teaching our children educational and work-world preparation that we "don't have the time" to reinforce the child's personal importance, teach them about positivity and the power of thoughts, guide them to practice self love and self care, etc. Perhaps--as I realized through this book, we parents and caregivers weren't taught some of those skills ourselves! 

 
Each story is short and easy to read. I love the variety of author voices expressed in these books. While each one has important messages to share--you never know which voice will resonate with an individual reader. You never know which words may give a reader just enough pause to reflect, reconsider and save a life.  

Would I Recommend these books? This series is a must-read series for families. With such a variety of authors sharing a variety of experiences, readers will find a little bit of everything in this book--making it useful for a variety of readers to read and reference again and again as times and needs change. There are some emotional, tear-jerking stories. There are also some fun stories that offer different perspectives. Every story offers something for readers to think about--and serves as excellent conversation starters for families needing some nudges toward complex topics. This series is an important series to share as a family and use to inspire some much-needed conversation, reflection, growth, and healing.

Proceeds from the book supports the mission of Teen Suicide Prevention Society,

 

Buy the Books

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