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4 . Books that can help teens manage anxiety

Children experience anxiety differently from adults, and it also looks different in each child. Fortunately, books can serve as tools for guiding children through the anxious thoughts and feelings they may experience. The following are four books that can help children effectively manage their anxiety.

The Healthy Coping Coloring Book and Journal by Pooky Knightsmith

This coloring book is specifically designed for children aged 8 to 14 and activities range from coloring to journaling and drawing, all of which are developed to help children deal with troubling situations. The different activities can be beneficial for self-expression.

Please Explain Anxiety to Me! by Laurie E. Zelinger and Jordan Zelinger

Written by psychologists, this story breaks down both the physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety. The story compares the natural anxiety kids feel to dinosaurs fearing being threatened in the wild. It explains that some anxiety (for example, a dinosaur’s anxiety about being eaten) can be our body’s way of protecting us from threats.

Sea Otter Cove by Lori Lite

This is a book that teaches children how to use proper breathing techniques to calm down, lower stress, and control anger. Through playful sea otters and other delightful characters in the book, children get to experience belly breathing. This effective, self-calming technique is also known as diaphragmatic breathing or deep breathing.

The Worry Glasses by Donalisa Helsley

This book is about a little girl named MJ. It tells the story of how she learns to defeat her worries. All through the story, her wonderful counselor Miss Jessica patiently helps her. The book includes a list of exercises designed to relieve kids’ anxiety. It also offers tips to parents and adults who live with anxious children.

5 . The following are recommended picks from NPR staff and trusted critics.

Good Night, Irene

by Luis Alberto

It’s historical fiction based on Luis Alberto’s mother, who served as a Red Cross volunteer in World War Ⅱ. These so-called Donut Dollies made doughnuts and served coffee in a truck, providing comfort to the soldiers. They also drove to the front lines during the battle. This novel is a comedy featuring characters that present friendship and courage in tough circumstances.

Homestead

by Melinda Moustakis

Homestead is a tale of what it was like to be brave enough to build a life and survive in rough Alaska. Melinda also excellently captures the complexities around a moment in American history that is reduced to a line or two in schoolbooks. The characters in Homestead are escaping troubled pasts tied to forces out of their control.

The Great Escape

by Saket Soni

The Great Escape begins in 2006, when Soni, a labor organizer, receives a midnight phone call from a Mississippi number. The caller is one of 500 foreign workers who paid $20,000 to a firm that promised green cards if they would help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. But the green cards were a lie. There’s a daring midnight escape of the men from camp, then a march to Washington, D.C.

The Porcelain Moon

by Janie Chang

Set against World War I in France, it tells the story of two women, who break general expectations and restrictions to find their love and lives. Camille, raised outside Paris in poverty, and Pauline, who works for her uncle at his Paris shop, are trying to avoid an arranged marriage. It’s a richly researched historical fiction book.

6 . Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2024

The Novel Fair is an annual competition initiated by the Irish Writers Centre (IWC). Described by The Irish Times as “A Dragons’ Cave for writers”, each year the Fair aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents.

The Prize

The twelve winners will have the opportunity to present the summary of their novel directly to industry professionals. Leading publishers and agents will be invited by the IWC to meet these writers in person or through a series of online meetings. To get fully prepared for the meeting with publishers and agents, the winners will receive a place in a workshop on “How to Promote Your Novel”, two weeks in advance. Also, applicants who are longlisted (初选) but do not make it to the shortlist of twelve will have their works evaluated and criticized by the judging panel.

How to Enter

Entry fee for application is £55 (Members of IWC can enter for a discounted fee of £45). This competition only accepts manuscripts (原稿) for novels. Applicants are required to send a summary within 300 words and up to five chapters of their novel, which should be 10,000 words (+/-10％). Manuscripts should be submitted online. There is a limit of one entry per applicant.

Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world. Before entering the competition, please ensure that you have read the Novel Fair Terms & Conditions 2024 very carefully as the Fair is open to only novelists who have never published work previously. If you have any questions about the application process, please email novelfair@irishwriterscentre.ie.

8 . If you want to understand China but can’t afford an expensive international flight, these four books can give you a complete overview of the country.

River Town

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler-This book is a journal of the author’s two years spent teaching English in a small town called Fuling, situated on the banks of the Yangtze River. Hessler writes about his experiences living in a foreign culture and observing the lives of the town’s residents. The book was published in 2001 and has won several awards, including the Kiriyama Prize.

Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China

It is a book that tells the story of China’s modernization. It was written by Ezra Vogel and published in 2011. The author describes how Deng Xiaoping’s policies led to significant changes in China’s economy and society. The book has received critical honors and won the Lionel Gelber Prize In 2012.

The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence

This book is a comprehensive history of China from the Ming dynasty to the present day. The author, a prominent scholar of Chinese history, provides a detailed analysis of the social, cultural, and political changes that have taken place in China over the past 500 years. The book was first put out in 1990 and has since been revised and updated several times. This book was the top bestseller for years.

Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China

Written by Leslie T. Chang, this book, published in 2008, is reportage on the lives of young women who leave their rural homes to work in factories in China’s cities. Chang, a former New York Times correspondent (someone who is employed by a newspaper or a television station etc. to report news from a particular area or on a particular subject), interviewed hundreds of factory girls to provide insight into the social and economic changes in China.

9 . The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1939- ), Canadian

Because of pollution, many women are infertile(不育的). New laws create the job of handmaid, a woman who can have babies for rich families. This is the story of Offred, a handmaid. Offred works for Fred and his family. She wonders if she can get away, and she has to hurry.

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1903-1950), English

The novel is set in the future, but it is the year 1984. Winston Smith lives in London, part of the English country Oceania. There are three countries in the world: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Big Brother is the leader of Oceania. The government controls everything, even people’s thoughts.

Winston, a government worker, meets Julia, another worker, and they fall in love—a crime in Oceania. The government discovers their secret, and Winston and Julia must go to the Ministry of Love, a centre for enemies of Big Brother.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), English

London, 600 years in the future. The Controllers are the rulers of the world. People don’t know war, disease or pain. They enjoy sports and spare time, but they are not free. The Controllers create babies in factories. Adults are divided into five social classes. When a man from a wild area of the world gets to London, he criticises the society. In the end, he has to choose between joining them or dying.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), American

It is 24th century America. People can’t read or own books, as books are against the law. The population gets all their information from the television. Guy Montag is a fireman. Firemen don’t stop fires; they start them. They burn books at a temperature of 451 degrees. One day Montag meets young Clarisse, who makes him question the society he lives in. Soon Montag gets interested in the books he is supposed to destroy.