Alcohol-and-Youth Books

"This book describes a step by step process you can use to help stop a teenager's harmful involvement with chemicals.

One of my favorite chapters is the one "You sat on the burner, you sit on the blisters."

Judy Herzanek/Why Don't They Just Quit?

I bought this book and read it before talking to a drug counseler. This was the #1 book recommended by them. I found it extremely useful, and helpful in that I felt much more in control after understanding the issues that teens face when facing an addiction. I particularly found the stage of use/abuse outlined in the book to be exactly like what the professional abuse counselers used. Highly recommend!

This book tells you precisely how you can help and was selected by the board of directors for www.Parentshelpingparents.info as one of only two books recommended to our parents of teens. It describes a step-by-step process called intervention that you can use to stop a teenager's harmful involvement with chemicals.

Warren Pat Nichols
Founder
Parents Helping Parents, Inc.

This is truely an easy to read, step-by-step book. Explaining first the teenager's brain and thinking and what stresses a teenager has in their life, then going on to reasons for drug use, and practical, tangible ways to deal with it. This is a great book for any parent of a teenager to read, whether or not they have found their child trying drugs. It is a great "heads up" informative sourcebook. I esp liked the section on what special emotional needs that teens are looking to have fulfilled during adolescence. It is really helpful to read that as a parent of any teenager.

It's so important for parents to DO SOMETHING when they discover their teen using alcohol or other drugs. This no-nonsense approach is one of the best I've seen, and I've been counseling for over 20 years.

The book Sarah T. Portraite of a teenage alcoholic was a really good book. I really enjoyed reading about how Sarah struggled through everyday life and the problems that she faced everyday. It was really touching to read about her schedule of everyday life and how she coped with a new family and her drinking problem. It was very hard for her to finally admit that she did indeed have a problem. Even her mother wouldn't admit that she had a problem. But in the end it all worked out and she got the help she needed along with a few friends!

I liked this book because some of my family members like to drink some alcoholic because they think its fun to do.They hang out at bars and some of their friends to go drinking.It's wrong when her dad threw her out on the street when she was cought drinking,because he should have sat down with her and talked to her asked her why she drinks.I felt the book was alright and I would recamend it to some of my classmates in my class to read.I think she was way to young to start drinking at her age.She should of been at least 17 or 18 to start to drink.

This book was AMAZING. I never would have thought it would change me the way it did. I am not an alcoholic. I have had maybe two drinks in my whole life. My english teacher recommended this book to me. I was reluctant at first, but I am so glad I decided to read it. Near the last chapter I wanted to bawl my eyes out. I couldnt put the book down. I STRONGLY recommend this book to everyone. It is awesome and diserves 6 stars. Wow.

I had to read this book because I had to write a paper about alcoholics. This book was a great help and it reads very easy and quick. I also had to present the book in class and they all thought it is a wonderfull book. The subject is realistic and also a bit shocking because most people think alcoholics are adults and not teenagers.

I had to read this book in Language Arts class. I thought this would be like any other book we have read, uninteresting and boring. But, I was wrong. I really enjoyed reading this book. It made me open my eyes and understand that teen-age alcoholism is a serious problem in America today. This is an awesome book for people of all ages. Hey, im only 13 and i enjoyed it!

This book clearly defines abstinence, recovery and sobriety. an easy read and recommended for one of my classes. I would recomment it to anyone who wants to know about alcoholism and drug addiction. Even though it was written over a decade ago it still appplies today!

having worked with chemically dependent teens for 23 years I can say..YEAH! Her sense of humor comes through all the way. Let's face it ..you gotta have one when working with teens.They are wonderful breed, albeit a breed apart. MS Bell does it well!! I recommend it as required reading for all parents of teens!

I was not expecting to enjoy this book nearly as much as I did. It surprised me at first to discover that the story was written in a poetic form, but this simply enhanced the entire experience. I was truely touched by the simple pure relationships formed between the characters. Herrick doesn't weigh down the plot with too many detailed descriptions. The characters and events of the story speak for themselves. Each 'scene' stands on its own as a glimpse into the lives of the three characters. This book is highly reccomended to any readers who are prepared to sit back and enjoy a heart warming, thoughtful book.

In a counterpoint to THE LORD OF THE FLIES, and other grim tales where a lack of structure or authority leads to chaos and harshness and evil intent, Australian author Steven Herrick has created a world in which a young man striving for autonomy is able to attain an idyllic existence away from the rule makers and the rule breakers.

When sixteen-year-old Billy Luckett packs a few things (including the old man's booze and cigarettes) into his schoolbag, says good-bye to his dog, and walks out of the house, he doesn't know where he will end up. But Billy's certain that anything will beat living with his abusive father.

"Please don't tell what train I'm on
And they won't know what route I've gone"
--Elizabeth Cotton, "Freight Train"

Hopping a westbound freight train in a teeming rain, Billy immediately crosses paths with the first of a series of characters who will each enrich and transform his life with their kindness, and who will each in turn take something away themselves for having been able to see through Billy's exterior.

"Men...........Billy

There are men like Ernie,
the train driver, in this world.
Men who don't boss you around
and don't ask prying questions
and don't get bitter
at anyone different from them.
Men who share a drink and food
and a warm cabin
when they don't have to.
Men who know the value of things
like an old boat
built for long weekends on a lake.
Men who see something happening
and know if it's right
or wrong
and aren't afraid to make that call.
There are men like Ernie
and
there are other men,
men like my dad."

"When we came to the station all the trains were rusty
The doors were open and the windows broken in
There was grass in all the cracks and the air hung musty
The travel posters were flapping in the wind"
--Al Stewart, "Apple Cider Re Constitution

Billy reaches the end of the run at an old railroad town named Bendarat, and takes refuge in a lovely old abandoned train car. When he purchases a lemonade at the McDonald's in town, and proceeds to gather himself a fine meal from what fellow diners leave behind, he meets Caitlin, a well-off teenage schoolgirl who is working for The Clown as a way to gain her own measure of independence, in her case, from doting parents.

"Caitlin and mopping...Caitlin

When I first saw what he did
I wanted to go up
and say,
'Put that food back.'
But how stupid is that?
It was going in the rubbish
until he claimed it.
So I watched him.
He was very calm.
He didn't look worried
about being caught
or ashamed of stealing scraps.
He looked relaxed,
as though he knew he had to eat
and this was the easiest way.
I had work to do,
mopping the floor,
which I hate,
so I mopped slowly
and watched.
He read the paper
until the family left,
then helped himself to dessert,
and as he walked back to his table,
holding the apple pie,
he looked up and saw me
watching him.
He stood over his table
waiting for me to do something.
He stood there
almost daring me to get the Manager,
who I hate
almost as much as I hate mopping.
So I smiled at him.
I smiled and said,
'I hate mopping.'
He sat in his chair
and smiled back
and I felt good
that I hadn't called the Manager.
I kept mopping.
He finished his dessert,
came over to me,
looked at my badge,
looked straight at me,
and said, 'Goodnight, Caitlin,'
and he walked out,
slow and steady,
and so calm, so calm."

The story's third principal voice and pivotal character is Old Bill, an alcohol-dependent hobo with long grey hair and beard who inhabits a nearby train carriage along the string he facetiously refers to as 'The Bendarat Hilton.'

"Sorry..........Old Bill

I feel sorry
for swearing at the kid,
abusing him for bringing me breakfast,
Breakfast! Of all things.
A good kid,
living like a bum
and I knew he'd need money,
even bums need money to live.
So this morning, early,
far too bloody early for me,
I knock on his door
to return the bowl and spoon
and he opens it slowly,
invites me in,
and I tell him
about the Cannery and work.
How every Monday during the season
they offer work,
and if he needs money
that's the place to go,
and he says,
'Sure, great. Let's go.'
And because I'm still sorry
about swearing at him
I find myself
walking to the Cannery
with the kid
looking for work,
work I don't need,
or want.
Walking with the kid
early Monday morning."

"Every happy ending needs to have a start."
--The Moody Blues "You Can Never Go Home"

As we're uncovering the tales of how they got to those bad spaces in which we first meet them, Billy and Old Bill are moving inexorably forward and upward as a result of their relationship with each other. Caitlin is a genuinely likable girl whose difficulties--while not in the same league with those of Billy and Old Bill--will ring true to teen readers who desire, like she does, to be accepted for who they really are. I have great affection for THE SIMPLE GIFT's fairy tale-like sensibilities and for the story's message (that harkens back to the Sixties) about avoiding the rule breakers and rule makers and, instead, paying attention to treating people kindly. A quick and enjoyable easy-reading verse novel imported from Australia and published in paperback, THE SIMPLE GIFT is a Great Escape Package I can highly recommend.

This is one of the few books I have read that I found to be so captivating that I literally could not put it down. The book contains 10 word for word testimonies of 10 kids who have been through the horror of drug and alcohol abuse. This book is frank - I appreciated how Joel Engel *never* tried to "soften the edges" and make things sound not so blunt in order not to offend people. This is one of the few books, if not the only one, that truly shows just how much drugs can wreck your life.

I found this little book very helpful. The daily entries are written by the teens themselves. The direct, to the point style they bring to issues around living with Alcoholism make this book very readable. Many topics on emotions and issues common to growing up, not just alcoholism are also covered. Adults will also find it helpful. I like that the book is small enough to fit in my purse, so I can carry it anywhere. I would encourage anyone who is bothered by another's drinking to get a copy of this book.

Collaboratively compiled and deftly co-edited by Malcom Maclachlan and Caroline Smythe, Binge Drinking & Youth Culture: Alternative Perspectives is a scholarly discussion of binge drinking and its connection to serious social problems such as suicide, especially with regard to the youth culture in Ireland and the UK. Multiple perspectives draw heavily upon statistical research, painting a clear portrait of social ills and the individual, social, and cultural attitudes that contribute to them - in one writer's term, the old adage that there is little to do in Ireland except go to the pub is all too close to the truth. Binge Drinking & Youth Culture acknowledges that there are no easy answers but strives to present as many facts and as much sociological insight as possible to aid in addressing the problems to public health. A superb reference text for college-level students of addictive drugs and behavior.

The behavior of an adolescent who is dependent upon alcohol is often mystifying to parents and other adults. The author writes,"There is much darkness inside the adolescent alcoholic and her parent. And where there is much darkness there is a great space for light." Ann Marie Krupski explains that process of bringing "light" into the life of adolescent alcoholics. Her teachings provide counselors, teachers, parents, and other adults with the knowledge and understanding necessary to deall effectively with adolescent alcoholics.
--- from book's back cover

This is a very well written short story about a young girl named Jordan Young who liked to party. Unfortunately, one of her very close friends had to pay the consequences for these choices to party and it was a sobering experience for Jordan.

Recommended for younger students who would like to read about some of the consequences drugs and alcohol can have on young lives. The effects can be very real.

One wonders today what Jordan is doing with her life. Has she learned from this experience? I'm willing to bet that she has and is a better person now because of it.

Two big toes up!

143. G2.

I found this book to be a good resource for adolescent substance abuse treatment. Very worthwhile if you are interested in this topic.