Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Middle School Confidential Book 3 What's Up with My Family?

Once again, Annie Fox has nailed it!

What's Up With My Family is an amazing addition to your home library. With chapters like, I'm Not a Little Kid Anymore, Fuel-ish Thinking, Things are Changing Around Here, That's So Unfair, Moods and Attitudes, When Someone is Gone, Struggling with Siblings and Let's Call a Truce, Annie leaves no stone unturned while giving tips and ideas for how to not only keep the peace but enjoy and appreciate the family you have been given.

The folks at FreeSpirit Publishing knew what they were doing when they signed this woman. Annie is single-handedly saving our youth. Yes, that sounds dramatic...but she is doing it! All you have to do is pick up Book 3 in her Middle School Confidential Series!

If you don't know Annie Fox, you need to go meet her HERE! She has a triptych-style website for teens, parents and educators...whichever you are you can click and start your head spinning with all she has to say. As a parent, there is NO better site to get informed and take action toward keeping your teen safe, well-informed and by your side in this journey that is not always as simple as The Beaver and Mrs. Cleaver made it out to be.

Want a quick peek into Annie's style and HOW she grabs teens where they are? Check this out!

Annie has a passion for middle school kids that parents wish EVERY adult who impacts their child's life would have. Annie is the teacher, the counsellor, the mentor I pray my kids find. But if your child is thrashing and reaching for straws and no teacher/counsellor stands out to you the way you had hoped they would, THE MIDDLE SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL SERIES is a God send!

Check out BOOK ONE: Be Confident in Who You Are! Voted BEST TEEN BOOK by Radical Parenting.com

BOOK TWO: Real Friends vs. The Other Kind!

And BOOK THREE: What's Up With My Family?

My favorite part of Annie's books are the quotes from REAL kids that she has gathered over the years. These quotes aren't the sugar-coated, "Look at me, I made the best choice and it impacted my life for the better" quotes you read in some teen self-help books. She includes, real, raw quote from kids smack dab in the middle of the angst that plagues most teens.

"I speak my mind and don't like it when my family treats me unfairly. I get A's and help around the house. I have friends and I'm in two music programs. What do they want? I know running away is hard, but I'm afraid I will crack from this pressure." ~ C.J., 11

Well, I guess I have WAY more than ONE favorite thing about BOOK THREE in this series! There were so many "a ha" moments for me as a parent. The book is written FOR the kids but as I read it with my 12 year old, things like, "It's natural for the people who raise you to have some trouble getting out of the habit of treating you the way they did when you were younger."

WOOPS! That is where I am RIGHT NOW! My 11 and 12 year old are trying to spread their wings a little and until I read that sentence, I was looking at their requests as trying to keep up with their friends. You know the old blanket response, "Well, then, I guess just because Amy can have a cell phone/a facebook page/a web show, etc then I should just let you follow Amy's mom's rules? NOT HAPPENING!"

I have three amazing kids who follow rules, are respectful and "get it" when it comes to the things I say "no" about. But we were all teens, we know from OUR past experiences that that can change in a heartbeat! I LOVE that I have Annie's books on my books shelf for when that midnight conversation starts and I need some back up!

Head over to Annie's website and grab up these books! You WON'T BE SORRY! I promise!

Follow her on Twitter! @Annie_Fox

Friend her on FACEBOOK!

Peace.

2 comments:

Jen said...

Wow, Michelle, thank you for the fabulous review of our book, What's Up with My Family? (Free Spirit Publishing) by Annie Fox. Your support means the world to us. I love that your personality really comes through in your writing and in your blog's design--it just pops! If you're ever traveling through Minneapolis/St. Paul, let us know! Call on me for review copies of any of our books.

I also have to say a big thanks for sharing the book video—my husband produced it!

Cheers,
-Jenni

Jenni Bowring
Free Spirit Publishing
bowring@freespirit.com

Shellie said...

This sounds like an excellent thing to check out, I will hop on over.