Everything You Need to Know About Self-Confidence (Need to Know Library)

Suggests how self-confidence can be built and describes the positive effects it can have.

Grade 7 Up-Despite the overly ambitious titles, these two books offer solid, if general, overviews of difficult subjects. Positive, practical advice and encouragement characterize both the writing style and the information offered. Self-Confidence concentrates on the power of positive thinking, and interestingly serves as complementary companion to the second book, as many of the same principles appear in both. Ignoffo traces the thought patterns that contribute to low self-esteem and outlines a plan using deliberately positive self-talk to break through destructive cycles and develop confidence. Julie Tallard Johnson's Celebrate You! (Lerner, 1990) covers much of the same ground with greater depth and incorporates some side issues such as spirituality and trouble families. Living with Your Baby is aimed specifically at teenage parents, whether they are in couples or single fathers or mothers. The advice offered deals more with the interpersonal relationships and working out living arrangements than with infant care and toddler discipline per se. The tone is consistently nonjudgmental; the writing and layout are geared toward reluctant readers. Simpson tries to be positive to such an extent that her text becomes rather rose-colored; while she alludes to conflicts with the teen's parents, the more realistic portrayal only emerges with a jolt in the appended chapter of actual comments from the young parents regarding what they do and do not like about their situation. Herma Silverstein's Teen Guide to Single Parenting (Watts, 1989) presents a more realistic picture and offers a wealth of child-care advice.?Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 6^-8. Most young adults aren't as interested in self-help books as adults are, but librarians will want to make guidance counselors and teachers aware of this title and include it in bibliographies about surviving in middle school and junior high. Ignoffo presents brief scenarios showing how teens who lack self-confidence approach various situations, then discusses their responses and explains how they can appropriately alter their thinking and behavior. His nonjudgmental, commonsense approach is neither condescending nor overly cheery. Because the students in the photographs appear to be older teens, this book might also be a good choice to suggest to older reluctant readers. A glossary and a list of organizations that provide counseling services for teens are included. Chris Sherman