gratitude and tough topics
and a sketchnote from an awesome librarian!
I'm feeling grateful. As I rest and relax with family over Thanksgiving weekend and prepare for a big winter trip, I feel grateful to have a place to land in a world that feels so unstable and rocky. In our house, we're alternating getting informed by reading the news and attending events and teach-ins with taking breaks from the news when the vicarious trauma gets too overwhelming. I'm also feeling grateful to be in a community where we've had very difficult conversations about the issues facing our world and been able to stay respectful and connected even when we disagree.
Recently, I was thrilled to be part of the YALSA Young Adult Librarian Association conference and speak to librarians who work with tweens and teens. At the end of my talk, a librarian from Elgin, IL, @billiejo, came up to me and shared her sketchnote from my talk.
I also got to hear amazing authors speak including Crystal Maldonado, author of Fat Chance, Charlie Vega, and Edward Underhill, author of Always the Almost. I love a good YA novel and these are both excellent. After she spoke, I was about to email
to say: You MUST have Chrystal on your #BurntToast podcast…and then…I saw that that wonderful conversation…already happened. Listen here:
Book Groups for The Win!
So many groups are getting together to talk about Growing Up in Public which brings me so much joy! If you and your book club or educator meetup want to dive into a discussion, you can find discussion guides here (just scroll down the page a bit.)
Let me know and if we can make it work, I'd be happy to Zoom in for a free 15-minute Q and A at the end of your discussion time. I just did one with a library in Texas and it was so much fun! Reach out soon as I am traveling a lot in spring and would love to get your book group into my calendar ASAP.
More Gratitude (and please, keep reviewing)
Finally, thank you so much for the review and ratings. They help so much. If you have been reading Growing Up in Public and have a minute to rate or write a quick review, I'd be super grateful!
I'm not really a "cyber-Monday" girl, but if you want access to Raising Tough Topics with your Teen for only 19$ it is on sale until November 30 when it goes back to being 47$. The mini-course makes a great companion to Growing Up in Public. The course offers videos from me about how to talk to kids about tough topics like toxic friendships, pornography, bullying, and more.
While we're talking about "tough topics" Romper ran an excerpt from Growing Up in Public about one of the toughest topics....sexting. You can read it here. Feel free to share it on your favorite parenting page or on your social media app of choice...
Finally, in the spirit of the holidays, if you want to donate urgently needed items to individuals and families who are newly in the United States and are staying in shelters, here's a quick way to do it.