This just-out version for tweens and young teens is organized around the acronym CALM, the author’s prescription for calming anxiety and fears:
Celebrate God’s goodness
Ask God for help
Look on the bright side (Give thanks)
Meditate (Think about good things)
There’s no fluff or cheesiness here, no simplistic answers. Instead, young readers will find solid information to help them understand where anxiety and fear come from, how thoughts and feelings are intertwined, and what actions help.
Bible people from the Old and New Testaments appear frequently in these pages, as the author points readers again and again to God and His promises to help us.
A special emphasis throughout is the role of technology and social media in feeding anxiety and loneliness and what to do about it. Sidebars with “case studies” of two fictitious students, Emma and Oliver, bring these ideas home.
Every chapter ends with a “Brain and Heart Check,” questions and easy activities for kids to do to check in with their thoughts (Brain) and emotions (Heart).
There’s a “How to Get Help for Anxiety” section for readers who may need to reach out for more input or professional help.
This book would be a great resource for young teens to read through with a trusted parent or other adult.
Anxious for Nothing: Living Above Anxiety and Loneliness
written by Max Lucado with Andrea Lucado
published by Tommy Nelson (2021)
paperback, 6.25 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches, 192 pages
Making God’s wonders known to the next generation,