Where the Sea Takes Me by Heidi R. Kling

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Brilliant and eye-opening!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Where the Sea Takes Me by Heidi R. Kling!
Sienna has just finished college finals and is planning a Team Hope trip to Cambodia. Her friend, Spider, wants to make their relationship more than just friends and Sienna isn’t too sure about that idea. Her father knocks her off her feet when he calls to tell her that Deni will be visiting soon. Deni, as in the Deni that Sienna fell in love with two years ago and who she helped recover from the tsunami in Indonesia on her last Team Hope relief trip. Deni arrives and he and Sienna fall instep with each other and Spider doesn’t quite know how to handle the situation. Team Hope travels to Cambodia on a long ride and Sienna has her eyes opened wide to the beautiful country torn apart by war, poverty and sex trafficking. The Cambodian people have extreme perseverance and are living in the results of Pol Pot’s destruction. Realistic fiction, adventure and history create the story and a touch of romance brings it all forward. Where the Sea Takes Me is a brilliant, eye-opening read, 5 stars!

Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Wonderfully informative and humorous guide to Meditation.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren. I chuckled at the Table of Contents and how accurate the section and chapter titles were when applied to human nature. Some of the headings are “I Don’t Have Time for This”, “If I Get Too Happy, I’ll Lose My Edge” and “People Might Think I’m Weird”. So great and opens up the path for humor in its pages. I was excited to discover the app that accompanies the instructional meditation given in this book. The commentary is full of humor and deals with thoughts that swirl through our minds as we try to relax and meditate. Short and easily doable meditations are introduced along with helpful, concise cheat sheets. I love the “RAIN”, “Walking Through Sound” and “Ten Good Breaths”! This quote captures the true essence of this practical and useful book, “Meditation is basically the end of boredom.” I was surprised and disturbed by the results of the study “Pandora’s Box” where people were left alone in a room with no stimulus, except a button that produced an electric shock. Many of the participants chose to give themselves electric shocks because of their discomfort of being quietly alone. Wonderfully informative instructional guide on meditation for anyone who wants to try but is skeptical of meditating, 5 stars!

The Teen’s Guide to Social Media by Jonathan McKee

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Shiloh Run Press for the opportunity to read and review The Teen’s Guide to Social Media by Jonathan McKee. This helpful guide contains “21 Tips to Wise Posting in an Insecure World”. Each tip is given its own chapter and a clever name, which summarizes the advice. The book opens with a letter of relevant advice to parents and all caring adults that might be feeling overwhelmed with the technology overload and in need of possible rules and guidelines for raising children in a world with constant internet access. This guide reminds us: to keep up our social skills, to check privacy settings, that posting is permanent, of the detrimental effects of pornography, to seek out a mentor, to be accountable, don’t talk to strangers, to take less selfies, don’t become addicted to likes, to know the apps, to reevaluate online time, to find tech-free zones, to friend people you know, to rethink your media, to think before posting, to use kind words, don’t let your driving become distracted, no nude posts, to be truthful, sleep and stay aware.
Questions to ponder and something to think about sections at the close of each chapter/tip and a resource list at the end of the book give readers more to think about and research. 5 stars for this beneficial, relevant guide to online safety!