By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review
Published: March 15, 2010
Reading level: Young adults
Paperback: 90 pages
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing (2010)
Source of book: author
What to expect: Answers to family issues such as: death, anxiety, sibling rivalries
Isn’t this a question we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another? I know I did when I was younger–and I still do to some extent :)–so I was intrigued to read Annie Fox’s latest installment of the Middle School Confidential series. “What’s up with My Family?” tackles eight issues that often confound teenagers with regard to how their parents and siblings behave. When I read the book, some of the issues clearly resounded with my 15-year old self, so much so that I wished I had had this book then. And while my teenage years are far behind me, I’m glad this book is around now. It might just be able to help some teens understand why their parents are “overprotective” or “unfair” or “mean” and how to deal with “annoying” siblings. I put these terms in quotes because now that I’m a parent, and I’ve some perspective, I understand the reasons for certain behaviors but I know that I didn’t understand my parents or brothers when I was teen.
The book is written with many visual cues that will intrigue teens and young adults–the graphics, conversational style, and particularly, the real-life quotes from teens across the country–all serve to make the subject matter easier to understand and deal with.
Annie Fox seems to have gotten a lot of her accessibility and understanding from her years of study and experience with this particular age group. After teaching for several years, Annie began to experiment with how technology could be used to empower teens. Among her many online projects, she is the creator of The InSite—a Web site for teens taking on life’s challenges.
Add this book to your collection: Middle School Confidential: What’s Up with My Family?
You may also like: Middle School Confidential Series: Be Confident in Who You Are by Annie Fox M.Ed.
Middle School Confidential: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind by Annie Fox M.Ed.
Visit the website of Annie Fox M.Ed.