Punching Bag is the compelling true story of a high school career defined by poverty and punctuated by outbreaks of domestic abuse. Rex Ogle, who brilliantly mapped his experience of hunger in Free Lunch, here describes his struggle to survive; reflects on his complex, often paradoxical relationship with his passionate, fierce mother; and charts the trajectory of his stepfather's anger. Hovering over Rex's story is the talismanic presence of his unborn baby sister. Through it all, Rex threads moments of grace and humour that act as beacons of light in the darkness. Compulsively readable, beautifully crafted and authentically told, Punching Bag is a remarkable memoir about one teenager's cycle of violence, blame and attempts to forgive his parents-and himself.

What's the good in keeping secrets?

Secret Friends is a heartbreaking story about friendship and bullying from the multi-award-winning Elizabeth Laird.

Rafaella doesn't find it easy to make friends. She looks and feels different from the others at school. And Lucy is the first to tease, the first to call her 'Earwig', until they get to know one another and Lucy sees that Rafaella is full of hopes and ideas, just like she is. Lucy loves keeping her own secret friend, until tragedy strikes and secrets can't be kept any longer.

Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Children's Book Award and reissued with gorgeous illustrations, more than twenty years after first publication, Elizabeth Laird's moving and unflinching novella brings home the crucial importance of cultivating empathy in young people.

Bullying sucks, but true friendship is worth fighting for. Blubber is a thick layer of fat that lies under the skin and over the muscles of whales . . . When Linda innocently reads out her class project, everyone finds it funny. Linda can't help it if she's fat, but what starts as a joke leads to a sustained and cruel ritual of humiliation. Jill knows she should defend Linda, but at first she's too scared. When she eventually stands up to the bullies, she becomes their next victim - and what's worse, Linda is now on their side . . . In this bright blue edition of Blubber, Judy Blume sensitively explores bullying and self-esteem.

CBT skills for coping with angry thoughts, expressing your emotions, and putting an end to angry outbursts--once and for all. Being a young man is tough, and you're not always equipped to deal with the ongoing challenges of school, work, family, and relentless peer pressure. First of all, it's not all your fault. Our society encourages boys to repress their emotions--both positive and negative. You may have been told to "suck it up," or "just be a man." But burying your emotions can make it extremely difficult to express yourself, be heard, and feel like your needs are being met. The result is a frustration that builds and boils over into anger. The good news is there's an easy-to-learn method for managing your anger and expressing your emotions in a healthy way. Written by an expert in anger with decades of experience working with teens, this book provides you with the tools you need for effective anger management, as well as essential skills for getting in touch with and communicating your thoughts and feelings. You'll learn to understand the emotions that trigger anger, build up your emotional vocabulary to better express your feelings, and focus on the positive. You'll also discover anger-reduction techniques to stay cool when anger intensifies, so you put out the fire and get to a place of calm. This workbook is packed with tips and tricks to help you: Replace unhelpful anger with clear communication Break the habit of catastrophizing and personalizing Reduce the overwhelming physiological response of anger Channel the positive power of anger With the right tools, you can take charge of your anger--and your life. This workbook will show you how. In these increasingly challenging times, kids and teens need mental health resources more than ever. With more than 1.6 million copies sold worldwide, Instant Help Books are easy to use, proven-effective, and recommended by therapists.

What if everybody chose to be kind? If you tell someone that they can't play with you, there's no harm done, right? But what if everybody said that? What if everybody forgot to be kind-and made fun of other kids' artwork at school, or told a fib, or refused to share with a person in need? The world wouldn't be a very nice place to live. But what if everybody thought before they spoke, so the world would be a kinder place? With clear prose and lighthearted artwork, this companion book to the bestseller What If Everybody Did That? explores the power of words and shows kids that the things we say matter.

Buddy Benches were introduced in Germany in 2014. When a child sits on the bench, it signals to other children to ask him or her to play. Patty Brozo's children bring a playground to raucous life while Mike Deas's illustrations invest their games with images of planes, dragons and elephants. The children match their imaginations with empathy, identifying and swooping up the lonely.

From New York Times best-selling author Amy Tintera, a high-stakes sci-fi adventure about a teen girl who will do anything to escape her troubled home--even if that means joining a dangerous monster-fighting squad. Perfect for fans of Warcross and Renegades. Seventeen-year-old Clara is ready to fight back. Fight back against her abusive father, fight back against the only life she's ever known, and most of all, fight back against scrabs, the earth-dwelling monsters that are currently ravaging the world. So when an opportunity arises for Clara to join an international monster-fighting squad, she jumps at the chance. When Clara starts training with her teammates, however, she realizes what fighting monsters really means: sore muscles, exhaustion, and worst of all, death. Scrabs are unpredictable, violent, and terrifying. But as Clara gains confidence in her battle skills, she starts to realize scrabs might not be the biggest evil. The true monsters are the ones you least expect.

For teens, confidence is key! This fully revised and updated edition of The Self-Esteem Workbook for Teens has everything you need to boost self-confidence, improve your social skills, balance social media use, and reach your goals. As a teen, it is incredibly important to have self-confidence, especially when you consider all the societal pressures teens face today, particularly about appearance and grades. Growing up in today's world is difficult, and in the midst of all this life-related stress, it's easy to magnify your own weaknesses and minimize--or even ignore--your true assets. This workbook can help. In this fully revised and updated second edition of The Self-Esteem Workbook for Teens, you'll learn to develop a healthy, realistic view of yourself that includes honest assessments of your weaknesses and strengths, and you will learn to respect yourself, faults and all. You'll also learn the difference between self-esteem and being self-centered, self-absorbed, or selfish. Finally, this book will show you how to distinguish the outer appearance of confidence from the quiet, steady, inner acceptance and humility of true self-esteem. This second edition includes practical exercises to help you deal with body image issues, be more assertive and set boundaries with others, and navigate difficult social situations--including bullying, cyberbullying and social media overload. You'll also find activities that promote healthy thinking habits and problem solving; tips for handling criticism, setbacks, and self-doubt; and strategies for developing self-awareness, self-acceptance, and self-worth. With the right amount of self-confidence, you will have the emotional resources you need to succeed and reach your goals. This workbook can help you get started, step by step. In these increasingly challenging times, kids and teens need mental health resources more than ever. With more than 1.6 million copies sold worldwide, Instant Help Books are easy to use, proven-effective, and recommended by therapists.

Taylor Before and After tells the story of middle schooler Taylor Harper through journal entries alternating between two timelines: before and after a drunk driving accident, in which Taylor Harper was a passenger - and her brother was the driver. Before, Taylor was finally becoming popular, navigating the pressures of friends, frenemies, and a cut-throat initiation challenge by the coolest girl in school. After, she finds herself ostracised, bullied, and facing the glaring silence of things unsaid at school (and at home).