Rage: True Stories by Teens About Anger

by Youth Communication, Laura Longhine (Editor)

These teens have plenty of reasons to be parental abuse, street violence, peer pressure, powerlessness, and more. The writers talk honestly about anger managing as they struggle to gain control of their emotions and stop hurting others and themselves. 
 
Real Teen Voices Series
Teens open up to tell personal stories that tackle difficult, real-life issues. Direct, revealing, and often raw, these voices will ring true for any teen reader who has faced bullying, anger, or stress. Each piece has been selected and edited to appeal to reluctant and emerging readers as young as seventh grade. Readers will be inspired by the writers’ courage and strength in working hard to overcome problems both large and small.

Genres: Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Abbey Pavlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review of the book Rage

The stories in “Rage, True Stories by Teens About Anger” by Laura Longhine of Youth Communication is published by Free Spirit in Minneapolis 2012. Tormented by their painful pasts, all the teens in this story just want to feel loved. These stories mainly focus on teens opening up to tell personal stories that tackle difficult, real-life issues. The grippingly honest and detailed stories are directed towards a young adult audience, but there is a story for everyone in this book.

I see this story as being direct and revealing, because of the raw material presented in the teens writing. These voices and stories will hit home for any teen reader who has faced bullying, anger, or stress. The children having been abused by parents and pressured by their peers, can truly inspire others. Every story demonstrates the ways the young adults coped with their anger issues, and how they kept their feelings manageable. The book gives raw and straight forward detail which continuously makes it interesting, grabbing your attention with its fast pace.

One of the many points that seemingly grasped my attention is, “Once, my mom pulled a knife from the kitchen. I covered my brothers’ eyes and watched in horror as my father egged on my mother. She stabbed my father’s chest four times, it was so horrible I passed out” (Laura Longhine 17). This emphasizes my opinion that this particular story provided raw and straight forward details. It proves that this child has likely faced stress and anger as many other children may.

Throughout the book, it shows the similarities to Laura Longhine’s other works. She uses the same references about teens and their daily struggles. Longhine wrote “Keeping It Real: Teens Write about Peer Pressure” which focuses on similar topics such as, teen pressure, anxiety, and bullying. Longhine writes about these topics to teach the young audience it is directed to, about issues other teens may face. Her books offer the young adult’s knowledge about the world around them today.

The raw detail in the collection of these stories captivated me. They not only enlightened me to what some teenagers are going through, but it also made me thankful for the family in which I am being raised. I proceeded to rate this book a five out of five stars, because of the raw and straight forward detail these stories provide. The book was fast-paced and intriguing. Longhine’s works have introduced me to the magnitude and severity of some of the teens’ experiences. Therefore, I loved every aspect of this book and what it has to offer to young adults.

[Benjamin Mak · Rating 5 out of 5]

The upbringing of children, where they are raised and by whom, is a major determinant of their future. The stories within this book scream the vicious and tragic repercussions of the parents' choices. Their negligence translates into the suffering of their children and a host of other chaotic struggles and trauma they face.

The parental beating and violent discipline detailed in this book are truly disturbing. Near the end, one story recounted one mother who used a golf club and smacked her son repeatedly, "12 lashings" at one point. I cannot imagine the collateral damage inflicted by this level of dysfunctionality and physical and emotional abuse. The permanent scars and deficiency of trust must be profound.

As an educator, I have decided to read this book to investigate and further understand the emotional journey of youth, observing the turbulent emotions and reactions behind the acting-out of teenagers. So often, I find their anger and angst a resulting symptom of a broken family structure. This book overall certainly has been thought-provoking and provocative in nature.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good, honest writing by troubled teens who learned how to cope with their overwhelmingly negative emotions and experiences in positive ways.

[Mary Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very meaningful

[LGJ ELA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Image living a life where you get abuse all the time, being taken advantage of because of your age or who and where you came from, unleashing anger on those you love because there is no other way for you to express yourself . Julie Stewart was a girl who was in her first foster home at the age of 7. Before she entered her first foster home she was already experiencing abuse at the time. At first, Julie actually enjoyed her time with the old lady as her foster parent. As Julie got older the old lady got more aggressive. She would beat Julie almost everyday after school and talk bad about her mother. The rage inside Julie was so powerful that she would unleash it on love ones.

That is, until one day Julie realized that she was hurting others and did not want to be defriend. Julie started to talk about her problems to her family to control the anger. Once Julie knew how to control all that anger she started to realize who she was without it.

I gave this story a five out five stars because as I was reading Julie’s story I was feeling a connection between the character and I. I can image the pain that Julie went through. For example, when Julie was talking about how scary it was to tell her feelings to her friends and family, I can just imagine Julie having trust issues with telling her family.

If you enjoy books where you want to be able feel a connection with the characters involved, this book is certainly for you. For Nonfiction and True Stories lovers this book is definitely for you. After reading this you need to read the rest of the “True stories” by teen Series.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one much more than the "Pressure" one in the same series--the kids seemed more authentic and the stories were a mix of optimism and realism. There were a LOT of stories about foster kids, which might be great or might be something to watch out for if the kids that are reading it don't have any experience with foster kids or foster care (they might develop some stereotypes or over-assumptions), but a good book.

[Lucy Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so sad. It tells you abut the hardships of teenagers today and how they get through it. What happens to these kids is so sad it can go from abuse from parents and family to bullying by kids at school. i would read it if you wanted to find out the hardships that real life teenagers go through

[Hope Grover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lexile: 850