Marjie BowkerBesprekingen

In this collection of sixteen true stories, teenagers share in their own words their painful experiences. They faced child abuse, drug addiction, death of loved ones to name but a few.
I loved the metaphorical ending of the stories

The "Write to Right" program helps these young people to draw a line under the past and regain self-confidence.

This great collection is a message of hope to other teenagers facing the same problems.and should be in the waiting room of all those who are there to assist them.

I received this ebook free through LibraryThing Member Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

Behind Closed Doors: Stories From the Inside Out

What a great book! This book has short stories written by students. This book is for young and old and will open your eyes to how a teen can act one way and feel inside a totally unexpected way. Sometimes we go through life not realizing how ours and others actions can affect the people close to you. I had forgotten how strong emotions were and how they could take over my thoughts when I was a teen. This book has brought me greater understanding to my own childrens actions and behaviors.

I would recommend this book to teens, parents of teens or anyone with a teenager in their lives. What a great collection of heartfelt accounts from strong young people.

Not everything is pure bliss and fairytales in life which these teenagers will let us know with their honest storys about life, death, addiction, struggle and their road to recovery. It certainly left me thinking about how much that can happen that you aren´t aware of.

WOW! [Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Inside Out] by the students of [Scribner Lake High School] was amazing! As a teacher, who is well aware of the struggles kids go through, the story's told by these courageous young people blew me away. I want to work on this project with my students. Better yet is that high school looking for teachers.

Thank you to the amazing teachers and students who gave us this wonderful but heartbreaking insight.

I really enjoyed this book. The stories were surprisingly well-written for high school students and I really enjoyed the updates at the end of the stories that said how they felt about their journey after. That was a great addition, which would have been greatly missed if left out. I was amazed at all these kids had overcome - and in some cases were still overcoming. Quick, well-written and thoughtful read.

Behind Closed Doors will expose the torment that some youth experience today. It is sad to hear the stories of what teenagers are experiencing, yet good to know that these students have turned their lives around. It will make the average person look at teenagers in a new light, and it will make you want to help someone if you know they are going through a tough time. There are stories that are worse than others, yet they still scar the children for life. For those people who have suffered through their teenage years with rape, abuse, rebellion, and addictions you will find something you can relate to and it will make you feel as though you're not the only person who had a bad experience. It makes the reader realize that every person grows and gets their strength from all experiences in their life.

Behind closed Doors : Stories From the Inside Out is a book that brings you up close and personal with the turmoil and pain that too large of the population of our Youth go through. The writing might be heartbreaking but it is incredible. You will get mad, cry, and just want to say you are going to be o.k. through the pages to them. They are wise beyond their years and are able to figure it out for themselves that life will get better. This is the first one of the books by the Scriber Lake High School that I had the pleasure to read. I will be getting the rest of the books. I want to say to the young writers in this book that I am proud of you. Never give up. Stay strong you are worth it. And God Bless to all involved in the book.

This book is heart-wrenching and hopeful at the same time. I only have two 5 star ratings on my shelf and this is one of them. I highly recommend.

Having had my own emotional struggles, I can certainly empathize with the teenagers depicted in this book. Some of them I can relate to more than others, but a few of them made me want to burst into tears because I have no idea how some people can be so cruel to others simply because they are different. I hope that this can be a helping hand to someone who is going through something similar.

We Are Absolutely Not Okay: Fourteen Stories By Teenagers Who Are Picking Up the Pieces
Marjie Bowker and Ingrid Ricks (Editors)
Scriber Lake High School (2012), Paperback, 80 pages

Wow.

Fourteen strong stories baring hearts, souls and feelings. Tough stuff for anyone, especially a teenager, to write. The product of a writing program in an alternative High School, this is a collection transformative moments in the lives of teens who were, not so long ago, considered 'at-risk' or worse. The contributors to this collection are not only telling their own stories, but are being an example for other kids in crisis. They are not just surviving, but thriving.

(****)

I just wanted to say that I am so proud of these kids for telling their stories, it is one of the most courageous things they could do. The stories tell the struggle of what each kid was dealing with and how they continued to overcome these times in their lives.

It feels strange to give a likeability rating to a book such as this, but I [obviously] give the rating for the 180 all the characters made in their lives. To come from such aweful experiences and find that they are more important that the things that happened to them is inspiring.

All young people, not those just troubled, should read this book. My oldest daughter is only 10 but this will be on her reading list soon.

The individual stories in this book gave a glimpse into what each person was facing and how they chose to handle it. The book, as a whole, was very inspiring to see how young people can overcome obstacles that most adults would find difficult and/or impossible.

This book deals with kids who are learning and living through tough situations in their lives. Each story gives a snippet of some of the life changing events they have dealt with. While this book is a great read, there is a lot of adult material. This book includes drug use, alcoholism, abuse, cutting, suicide and a transgender student. I would caution any parent to read this with your teen and discuss it. This one is definitely a teaching tool and not for everyone.

The only major critique I have, is that a couple of the stories just don't fit with the rest of the book. I get that it was a class project but I wouldn't recommend a couple of the stories simply because they were not as strong as the others. In particular, Coming Out and Help Yourself are not worth the time to read. The rest of the book however is great.

It's always amazing to read stories from people who have come out on the other side of their struggles. Knowing that these teenagers have taken their obstacles and turned them into writing as a way to cope is inspiring. These stories would definitely be helpful for young adults in similar situations.