YA Friday: Dealing with Stress

unhappy dog in Santa outfit

Non-Fiction Edition

Holidays are great, but they can also be a really stressful time.  You might be dealing with spending too much (or not enough) time with relatives, travel woes, homework, financial stress...the list goes on and on.  You can find lots of ways to relax at the library.  We have plenty of books, movies, and music that can entertain you and we have crafts and other events that you can attend to unwind.  Sometimes though, you may need some tips on how to cope with stress.  Here are some books that cover mediation, mental health, and life tips!

Meditation and More

Be Mindful & Stress Less, coverBe Mindful and Stress Less: 50 Ways to Deal with Your (Crazy) Life by Gina M. Biegel

Simple mindfulness practices for teens that build self-esteem, grow compassion, and reduce stress.  The demands and pressures of everyday life can really stress you out! School, work, relationships, social media, and the like can leave you pulled in so many directions it can make your head spin. When you need help fast, these simple accessible mindfulness-based practices will help bring you relief and ease right away. If you make these mindfulness and self-care practices part of your routine, you’ll discover little life-hacks to get through even the toughest days.



Life Inside My Mind, cover with thought bubbles with authors namesLife Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles edited by Jessica Burkhart

If you are living with a mental illness, it can feel stressful and isolating.  However, in this book, popular YA authors recount their own experiences with mental illness in this raw, real, and powerful collection of essays that explores everything from ADD to PTSD.  Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t get out of bed? Not the occasional morning, but every day? Do you find yourself listening to a voice in your head that says “you’re not good enough,” “not good looking enough,” “not thin enough,” or “not smart enough”? Have you ever found yourself unable to do homework or pay attention in class unless everything is “just so” on your desk? Everyone has had days like that, but what if you have them every day? You’re not alone. Millions of people are going through similar things. However issues around mental health still tend to be treated as something shrouded in shame or discussed in whispers. It’s easier to have a broken bone—something tangible that can be “fixed”—than to have a mental illness, and easier to have a discussion about sex than it is to have one about mental health.



This Moment Is Your Life, blue cover with cartoon teens doing yoga and meditationThis Moment is Your Life (And so is This One): A Fun and Easy Guide to MIndfulness, Meditation and Yoga by Mariam Gates

A hands-on guide to mindfulness for teens and tweens, with focuses on yoga, breathing, meditation, and everyday practices.



The Teen Girl's Survival Guide, cover with four girls jumping on a beach at sunriseThe Teen Girl's Survival Guide: 10 Tips for Making Friends, Avoiding Drama & Coping with Social Stress by Lucie Hemmen

Teen girls feel intense pressure to fit in and make friends. In this important guide, therapist and teen expert Lucie Hemmen offers ten tips to solve one of the biggest worries teen girls struggle with: social success. In the book, teen readers will find real strategies for growing a strong sense of self-knowledge and self-appreciation--two key building blocks for succeeding in the social world, and beyond



Chill, blue cover with headphonesChill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You by Deborah Reber

Gives teens the insight and tools they need to manage the pressures of everyday life by offering expert advice and practical stress-reducing techniques, including time management, visualization, and exercise



Kenzie's Rules for Life, cover with author standing in front of chalkboardKenzie's Rules for Life by Mackenzie Ziegler

This book is part inspiration, part life tips. Offers advice for tweens on friendship, family, fitness, style, and positivity, with recipes, craft ideas, and other fun asides for readers to enjoy.



Further Reading

Transforming Stress for Teens, cover with boy sitting on beachThe Mindful Teen, cover with teen in flower fieldRelationship Skills 101 for Teens, coverBoying Up, coverA Still Quiet Place for Teens