All this week on my personal blog, Teaching my Baby to Read, I have been reviewing books as part of my 2012 Salute to Pacific Northwest Writers.
Today I’d like to share a book for teens written by Shoreline author and therapist Ann Gonzalez. It’s called “Running for my Life,” and you can find it in bookstores or through Sno-Isle Libraries.
There are so many Young Adult books out there these days dealing with the supernatural, that it was refreshing to read “Running for my Life” by Ann Gonzalez which deals with the real. As any 14-year-old girl can tell you, being a teenager is scary enough without throwing vampires into the mix.
Andrea, the young heroine of “Running for my Life,” has a harder lot than many. Her mother has schizophrenia, and Andrea herself is suffering from PTSD. If you have ever known and loved somebody struggling with mental disorders, you will really relate. But even if you haven’t, you will be sure to empathize with Andrea, as well as her best friend Margie, who struggles to help.
I’m not a parent of a teenager yet, but I can imagine that this book would be a superb conversation opener if your own teen was in need of therapy. Before you even broached the subject of counseling, you could pave the way by sharing this book. Then you could go to your teen and say, “Look, it really helped Andrea to see a therapist. Is that something you might want to try?” That could make a difficult situation a little bit easier.
You can find more information about this book, or about Ann Gonzalez and her practice, by visiting her website.
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