Also, many of them are unrealistic; they seem to go on and on about how everything has a happy ending. But that's just not the case... In my opinion, it's giving teenagers the wrong idea about success.

Growing up is not easy. There are times when we find that adolescence challenges us the most. We become confused with our roles, our identities, and sometimes comes a point when we break our relationships with people around us, and worse, our relationship with our own selves. Interesting:I liked how even though i havent been abused or done drugs i know all the consequences that could follow and i could feel their pain. Ashley agreed, but to make it worse, she said, “I know, I wish she would leave us alone. We were in summer school together and now she thinks we’re best friends or something. Get a life.” The teenage years are when kids discover who they really are and define how the world sees them. It’s the time when they start to feel empowered, recognize their strengths, and become more mature about relationships with family and friends, learning how to be compassionate, forgiving, and open-minded. This is the time when they plan for their futures, try out working, and become more independent. This is also the time that they recognize that tough stuff happens, too, to themselves and the people they care about.i really like ready the short stories & different experiences as a teenager things i can relate to .i love it so far When we started school again, Ashley introduced me to her group of friends, the “cool girls.” She was the leader of their group; I would hang out with them on lunch breaks and take classes they were in. I would tag along to football games, and I joined the art club after school so I could hang out with them even more. My favourite quote from the story “Run with it” is “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” This motivational quote was my favourite because it told me that I can make a change, and I can make it now. Not tomorrow, not next week, now. We don’t need to wait for the perfect opportunity, we need to find the perfect opportunity. I have been given enough in life and I have the ability to use my resources as a way to make change or help another. What I have is simply enough and I don’t need to wait for the right moment, because the right moment is now.

I had brought this anthology many years ago and I have never got around to finishing it, so I decided to finish it. This anthology had also been recommended to me by my pervious teachers and it was been such an inspirational and delightful anthology to read. To her surprise, the summer before her sophomore year of high school, she became friends with Ashley, her classmate from summer school. Ashley was popular, outspoken, fashionable, and artistic. Another thing that really got to me was that the title suggests that these stories are meant to be soothing- but they just made me feel depressed; it's normally only the last two lines that are happy. The introduction of the book explains that the books can be read straight through or can be used as a guide book, depending on what issue the reader is going through. If I had not been given the chance to realize it, I might have been too concerned with “fitting in” to experience some of the best times of my life.” Inspirational Stories for TeensAshley learned something that year… through her heartbreak, she discovered the person she was going to be. I liked about three or five of the (tens of) contributions in this book, at least one of which was by an adult. I think that part of the problem in my not liking this book is the part where I'm no longer a teenager. I'm sure that the themes and writing in the book might be more appealing to a teenager than to an adult, because by virtue of being written by a peer they are valued? But honestly I think highly enough of teenagers' capacity to read and write that I can't imagine most of them liking this book either. Lena's parents are getting a divorce. Lena's friends have told her they are leaving her because she hasn't changed. Lena also doesn't feel pretty. Lena is going through a hard time both at school and at home. She doesn't have anyone to talk to about it. She just follows you around trying to be you. She copies you; she doesn’t have a personality of own.” another girl said.

Despite the pain I felt that day, it was a gift they had given me. They opened my eyes. The things that they said about me were true. I was just following, trying desperately to fit in. It didn’t bother me exactly, but I know that there are people who would definitely not cope with certain of these stories and they wouldn’t be warned up front.Achieving dreams, friendship, attitude and perspective, love and life were on a few of the chapter themes in the book. Each chapter was laced with a poem to express the theme. My favorite poem was about friendship. Each poem gave the chapter the perfect introduction as to what the chapter was going to be about. The chapter was filled with stories from different authors writing about the theme. Stories told by real people talking about their life stories and situations. I thing these chapters are were designed to somehow connect with the readers individual life situations and fell them in with some kind of comfort to let them know that theirs other people out there going through or previously went through the same thing. Brianne Monett’s story is just one of the inspirational stories in the book. There are so many stories filled with positive thinking from teenagers. The stories range from stories of hope to stories of finding ways of stopping the stressed, sleep-deprived behavior and focusing on the positive side of things.