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BWG Library's best books for parents of tweens and teens

Check out the BWG Library's top picks of the week, geared toward parents of teens and tweens
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Submitted by BWGPL.

Recommended by Bailey and Larissa, these books are designed to help raise strong and resilient teens.  Enjoy this week’s BWG Library Picks of the Week and feel free to reach out to the BWG librarians for personalized suggestions.  You can message them through Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwglibrary or email [email protected].  We can help you choose books based on your favourite authors, favourite genres…even your favourite cover colour!

Stressed out, by Ben Bernstein

Parenting is one of the most stressful fulltime jobs around. School, lessons, sports, homework, hormones, dinner, dishes. . . . Parents want to know how to be calm and enjoy these wonder years. Dr. Ben Bernstein, celebrated performance coach for CEOs, professional athletes, and musicians, takes on parents this time around in his book Stressed Out! For Parents. Focusing on his nine steps to optimize performance during stressful situations, Dr. B. teaches parents in clear, entertaining, and thoughtful writing how to be calm, confident, and focused in all that they do. So, say good-bye to anxiety and optimize your parenting performance today!

Raising a screen-smart kid, by Julianna Miner

Most kids get their first smartphone at the same time that they’re experiencing major developmental changes. Making mistakes has always been a part of growing up, but how do parents help their kids navigate childhood and adolescence at a time when social media has the potential to magnify the consequences of those mistakes? Rather than spend all their time worrying about the worst-case scenario, readers get a bigger-picture understanding of their kids’ digital landscape. Drawing on research and interviews with educators, psychologists, and kids themselves, Raising a Screen-Smart Kid offers practical advice on how parents can help their kids avoid the pitfalls and reap the benefits of the digital age.

Learning how to learn, by Barbara Oakley

A surprisingly simple way for students to master any subject -- based on one of the world's most popular online courses and the bestselling book A mind for numbers and its wildly popular online companion course "Learning How to Learn" have empowered more than two million learners of all ages from around the world to master subjects that they once struggled with. Fans often wish they'd discovered these learning strategies earlier and ask how they can help their kids master these skills as well. Now in this new book for kids and teens, the authors reveal how to make the most of time spent studying. We all have the tools to learn what might not seem to come naturally to us at first -- the secret is to understand how the brain works so we can unlock its power. This book explains: * Why sometimes letting your mind wander is an important part of the learning process * How to avoid "rut think" in order to think outside the box * Why having a poor memory can be a good thing * The value of metaphors in developing understanding * A simple, yet powerful, way to stop procrastinating Filled with illustrations, application questions, and exercises, this book makes learning easy and fun.

The teen money manual, by Kara McGuire

Wouldn't it be great if money grew on trees? But since it doesn't, everyone has to learn how to earn and manage money in order to live--and it's never too early to start. This book offers today's teens the best and most up-to-date tips on how to make money, how to spend it, how to invest and save it, and how to protect it. Learn how to land that first job, figure out your paycheck, and negotiate a raise. Discover how to stretch your money to cover all of your needs and (at least some of!) your wants. Learn to be a savvy saver to vastly improve your life. Really! Once you've started to accumulate property and money, you're not done managing your financial life. Far from it! Find out what it takes and how much it will cost.

This book is gay, by James Dawson

Lesbian. Bisexual. Queer. Transgender. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU. There's a long-running joke that, after "coming out," a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. THIS IS THAT INSTRUCTION MANUAL. You're welcome. Inside you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out and more. This candid and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBT also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention illustrations.