Trafford Publishing: Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers

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Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers

by Ronit Baras

171 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-1995; ISBN 1-4120-4188-0; US$18.00, C$20.00, EUR15.00, £10.50

Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers is a collection of short stories for teenagers, dealing with the conflict between the desire to be unique and the desire to be loved and accepted.

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About the Book      About the Author      Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book
www.behappyinlife.com/books
Whether they are different, from the future, from a different country or have special circumstances, the characters of Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers, teenagers and adults, deal with the dilemma of giving up their significance to gain love. They struggle with body image, social acceptance, family relationships, school, diversity and inclusion. Invariably, it's their attitude that determines their fate.

"Bojé's Magic Powder" is the story of Sam, who feels different and isolated because of her eating habits, while her classmates think she has an advantage.

"Beauty Queen" is the story of Michelle, a beautiful girl with a secret, who must work out the priorities in her life and find her inner beauty.

"Be Special, Be Yourself" is the story of Adam, who migrates to another country and tries to fit in, without giving up his values.

"Curly Line with Flowers" is the story of Jessie, a dyslexic girl, who writes a diary of her brave struggle for acceptance.

"The Building of Life" describes one class' attempt to create a perfect setup for a group of people living in a building, while coming to grips with some of the realities of their own life.

"The Guidance Counselor" is the story of Tommie, who is physically abused and builds his inner strength to set himself free.

"Love Me, Love Me Not" is a "chain story" about the desire that teenagers and adults have to be loved and things they will do to fulfill that desire.

"Biography" is the story of Daniel, who finds out, with the help of a classmate, just how much he is loved by the people around him.

About the Author

When I was a teenager, I struggled a lot with questions of my identity and ability to fit in. years later, I found myself dealing with the same questions, this time as an adult. When my daughter became a teenager, I realized these questions play a significant role in the lives of all of us, starting from our teens, but continuing right into adulthood.

As a life coach, I help people get feelings of significance, as well as love and connection, and maintain the fine balance between them.

My name is Ronit Baras. I'm a life coach and an educator, specializing in programs for children with exceptional abilities or with learning difficulties.

With my husband and three children, I've traveled and worked in many places around the world. I get my ideas and inspiration from all of these experiences.

Excerpts

From the story "Bojé's Magic Powder"
          "Did you know that, a hundred years ago, girls like Sam were considered less attractive? Back then, all the women wanted to be skinny and did everything to lose one or two kilos," she heard herself say for the millionth time.
          "You've told me this already, Mom, but I don't think I understand! She does have the perfect body, and yes, I am jealous. Sean isn't the only one who thinks she looks great. I don't know how people a hundred years ago couldn't see it."
          "A hundred years ago, people who weighed a lot died earlier. They had many diseases that were associated with being overweight: heart attacks, depression and even breathing problems. It was a time when people got bigger and bigger. The average weight actually increased over the years. If at a certain age it was common for a girl to weigh 50 kilos, then years later it was OK to weigh 55 kilos at that age. Slowly, that number went up, until Bojé invented his Magic Powder." Toni's mom loved talking about Bojé. She had dedicated seven years of research to his work.

From the story "Beauty Queen"
          The rehearsals for the Dance Odyssey performance were in full swing. Michelle was happy to be on stage. She took part in 5 dances and had one solo piece. In the dressing room, Sam got dressed in a corner.
          "What's wrong, Sam," Michelle asked her.
          "Today was the last day for the ticket sale," Sam said sadly.
          Michelle closed her eyes. She knew what Sam was saying.
          "I bought you a ticket, in case you changed your mind," Sam said.
          "Why? I didn't ask you to do that," Michelle said angrily.
          "Because I'm your best friend," said Sam defiantly, "And this is what best friends do," and she turned her back and started to leave.
          Michelle followed her. "Please, Sam. They won't accept it. They'll never understand," she tried to explain. Everyone looked at them.
          Sam turned back to her. She had tears in her eyes. "To hell with them. The question is whether you understand. Do you accept your life? I suggest you take a better look in the mirror," she said loudly and left the changing room.

From the story "Be Special, Be Yourself"
          Adam looked at the poster every time he walked into his room. It was such a big poster, it was hard to ignore. It was a photo of him at the age of four, with sunglasses and a cap, wearing a shirt with the words
          Be Special, Be Yourself
          His dad had enlarged it, framed it and said, "Whenever you have doubts, come and look at yourself, the way I saw you when I took this picture. This is to remind you of the right attitude to life."
          For a moment, he was sorry he knew there were other ways. Kids in 7th grade should go to school and have fun during breaks without thinking about the horizon.
          " Sometimes you have to distinguish between the things you can change and the things you can't. When will we say we've had enough? When will we decide that this is not the right place for us?" Adam's mom asked his dad.
          "My dear Sally, there is no 'right' place. There is only 'right' attitude," he reminded her.
          Adam felt confused. He sometimes felt like his mom, but knew exactly what his dad meant.
          "You should always say what you think. You're the one who is going to live with you for the rest of your life," his dad said. It sounded like a matter of life or death again.

From the story "Curly Line with Flowers"
This story is dedicated to all the people with learning difficulties, like dyslexia, and to the wonderful parents and specialists who enable them to make it in the world.

Dir daiery,
          This is the ferst time I am raiting, jast raiting. Mises hart geiv me this daiery and told me to rait. She promised me no one wood rid it. she geiv me the book and sed "this book is for you to rait evrything you hav in maind,no one is going to look at this book but you. I want you to rait without thinking abaoot your speling misteiks, just as you are toking to me naoo." I felt so relived, I coodent weit to get home and rait. I had so many words in my hed that I wanted to say, and never felt I cood rait them daoon.
          I felt so streing when she geiv me the book. Mom looked at her and I cood see som tirs in her eyes, I fliped the pages and I so that evry few peiges she rote sam sentenses with her beutifool hand raiting. On the frest pege she rote
          "Never, Never, Never Give up"
          It was only words but it geiv me so mach strength. I think that I fooly understood the mining of not giving up.
          I fil streing raiting to myself, it is a bit fany, but I laik it. mom bot me thos gel pens and I laik the wey the ink flos from them ontoo the peiper. It looks olmost laik a droing. I laik cheinging colors evry fyoo lains.

From the story "The Building of Life"
          When everyone had finished, Mrs. Cooper took the building model and put it on her desk.
          "This model is called 'The building of life'. It has 100 floors and 320 units. There are 1,000 people living in the building; singles, couples, with children or without, and even some old people. We are going to be the building government. We are the committee that runs this building. We've calculated the cost of running this building and found out it costs us $1,600," said Mrs. Cooper and wrote the figures on the blackboard. "How much tax should we charge the people living in the building?"
          Scott was the best Math student in his grade. He took some scrap paper, wrote down the figures and said "If there are 320 units, and we need to charge a total of $1,600, then we need to charge each unit $5."
          "Thank you," said Mrs. Cooper and wrote on her blackboard '$5 per unit'. She turned to the class and said. "The problem we have is that Mr. McCarthy thinks he shouldn't be charged so much, since he lives on the first floor and he does not use the lift."

From the story "The Guidance Counselor"
          Tommie had imagined himself many times going into her room, trying to tell her "I don't know what I'm looking for. Well, I do know, but I don't know if it is possible. I have read books talking about the 'sky is the limit' and I don't know if there is a limit to my pain. I'm hurt and I have an iron mark on my back. I'm glad it is on my back and I don't have to see it every day, but I want to go to the beach so much. My dad has a very thin belt with a big buckle and it is very painful. I don't believe I can find a girl that will touch my body until all the scars and the blue marks will disappear. My mom has no more space on her body to protect me with and I tell her to take my sister Tasha to the shower and stay there until he gets tired* I thought about running away, but it's selfish. Tasha has a big scar on her face and she never raises her head* Court order?! And who do you think will stand on our doorstep to make sure he doesn't come back?! Didn't you read in the newspaper that a judge gave an abusing husband a fine for hitting his wife? And who do you think is paying this fine if they are drunk and violent and don't work? Their wives! Prison? You are naive. You live in a nice Psychologist's world. Don't you read the newspapers? A husband that beat his wife to death was sentenced to one year in prison. And then what?"
          Tommie had 'talked' to her this way for hours, imagining himself sitting in her office, which he'd never seen before. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was in a trap and there was no way out. Tommie asked himself again and again what he saw in her and why he thought she had the answers to the questions he couldn't ask.

From the story "Love Me, Love Me Not"
          Tom took his nose ring off and examined himself in the mirror. The ring had been bothering him for two weeks now and he considered taking it out. Whenever he took it out, he felt relieved, but at the same time, he felt defeated. Mrs. Purdy, his English teacher, commented on his nose ring and his hair all the time and even sent him to the office to be scolded by the deputy principal, Mrs. Sherwood. In the deputy's office, he defended the ring like a skilled lawyer and asked Mrs. Sherwood if she thought she could present the school as being open-minded with equal rights if the girls could wear earrings and boys couldn't. The deputy principal, who taught him Math and liked him a lot, sat him in her office and asked him fondly "Tell me Tom, how long does it take you every morning to do this Mohawk?"
          "As long as it takes you to blow-dry your hair," he answered and smiled. Tom liked going to the deputy's office. He felt they understood each other very well.
          "I'm very efficient with my blow-dryer. I finish styling my hair in no time."
          "I'm very efficient with my hair styling, too. I bought this new gel. Isn't it nice?" he said and gently touched his long spikes.

From the story "Biography"
          "Do you know how it feels to live in a place where there is not one person who hasn't lost twenty or thirty relatives or close acquaintances?" she asked and felt like she was a bit cruel to him.
          "No, I don't, and I think I don't want to know. It must be terrible. You were probably happy to leave Croatia," said Daniel. He felt lucky. The thought of death scared him.
          Anna smiled. She was very sad to leave her home and her country, but very happy to say goodbye to that fear forever. She turned to leave. "My mom says that every day we should thank God for our eyes, arms and legs and for having one another," she said with a smile and went to her locker.
          Daniel stood where he was and watched her leave. She was playing with her fringe. He remembered his mom saying something similar.
          "People don't appreciate what they have. Sometimes, when they are threatened, they learn to appreciate the fact they have eyes, hands, legs. Then, they appreciate that every cell in their body is functioning and that they have other people who love them."

Catalogue Information