Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II

1st PUBLISHED: 1998

WITH STORIES BY:

Jennifer Love Hewwit (of I Know What You Did Last Summer fame), Wil Horneff (Born to be Wild), Andrew Keegan (Ten Things I Hate About You) and many more. 101 MORE Stories of life, love and learning.

ISBN: 1-55874-616-1

GENRE: Teen Fiction

SYNOPSIS:

Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kerberger's latest batch focuses on love, friendship and tough stuff, along with some great teen-told tales of learning lessons, making a difference and growing up. You'll find no adults preaching to you about what you should or shouldn't do. Instead, this book is full of teens who share their experiences on learning to accept life, becoming the best person you can be, being happy with who you are, and loving yourself- no matter what. These stories will show you that no matter how difficult your situation may seem, you can make it through the tough times; and that no matter how lonely you may feel, you are never alone.

EXCERPT:

Things are just things- they have no power to hurt or heal. Only people can do that. And we can all choose to be hurt or healed by the people who love us.

ARPITA SPEAKS:

This edition of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul has 101 fictional as well as real-life stories and poems written by teenagers and young adults, categorized into 8 sections- on relationships, friendship, love and kindness, tough stuff, family, learning lessons, making a difference, and growing up.

I know that we all inevitably tend to be very skeptical about so called 'self-help' books; and people do have conflicting views regarding the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. However, these books actually do make a very good read. They're definitely not preachy, and it depends from person to person, whether they actually find these books helpful or not. But, rest assured, they're all moving, and usually fun to read.

The anecdotes and poems in the section on friendship are particularly good in this collection, as are the ones on making a difference. While certain stories are not exactly exceptional, others are a real treat. Some, like The Hero of the 'Hood (about the childhood of Mike Powell) and Donna & Claudia speak of courage, and undying friendship that stands the test of time. Jennifer Love Hewwit writes about the experience of meeting a fan, a young girl suffering from cancer, whose dying wish was to spend a day with her.

These are the various perspectives of different people dealing with similar experiences, good and bad. While some talk about what they've suffered through, others share their happier moments. If you happen to chance upon one of these books, do give them a try. It will be time well spent.

RATING: 3.5/5

NUMBER OF PAGES: 324

PRICE: Rs.295/- (Flipkart)