Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School: 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Younger Teens

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Madeline Clapps

The stories in this book cover topics important to the 12 to 14-year-old age range, including regrets and lessons learned, discovering the opposite sex, cliques and popularity, and new privileges and responsibilities such as jobs, cell phones, and grades.

 

The first Chicken Soup for the Soul book was published in 1993, and became a publishing industry sensation, ultimately selling eight million copies.  Since then, more than 150 Chicken Soup titles have been published, selling more than 100 million copies.  

Chicken Soup for the Soul has won dozens of awards over the past 15 years, and its founders, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen have become celebrity motivational speakers and authors.

Genres: Middle Grade, Nonfiction

380 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2008

About the author

Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series, which currently has over 124 titles and 100 million copies in print in over 47 languages. According to USA Today, Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were the top-selling authors in the United States in 1997.

Canfield received a BA in Chinese History from Harvard University and a Masters from University of Massachusetts. He has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist.

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.

In 1990,he shared with author Mark Victor Hansen his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. After three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories.

Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN's Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live and the BBC.

Canfield's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret," and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life.

Jack Canfield was born on August 19, 1944, in Fort Worth, TX. He is the son of Elmer and Ellen (a homemaker; maiden name, Taylor). He attended high school at Linsly Military Institute, Wheeling, WV, 1962. He went to college at Harvard University, B.A., 1966; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.Ed., 1973. Canfield married Judith Ohlbaum in 1971 (divorced, November 1976); he married Georgia Lee Noble on September 9, 1978 (divorced, December 1999); he married Inga Marie Mahoney on July 4, 2001; children: (first marriage) Oran, David, Kyle, Dania; (second marriage) Christopher Noble. He is a Democrat and a Christian, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.

Reviews

[Avery B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved how this book gave great advice for teens from real (nonperfect people) who can relate, but to be honest, I would rather read a story book. I love putting myself into a mysterious adventure. And after a while of reading this book, it got a little bit depressing. I don't want to live life knowing I have hard consequences to face ahead. I don't want to have to worry about money. Not yet. I want to just enjoy being a kid, and this book doesn't really help.

-Aves

[Julianna Martinez]

Book Report Guidelines – Good Reads
Name of book: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School
Author: Jack Canfield
Pages: Short Story- A Final Goodbye
Genre: Fiction
Reading Level of book:

Exposition (4-6 sentences)
Chelsea is the main character and narrator of the story. Her Grandfather is in the hospital and her mother is worried. She is talking on the phone to a relative asking if they heard anything. The mother thinks he will get out in two weeks, but she hasn't checked up on him.

Conflict: (4-6 sentences)
The mother says that doctors never tell the truth. Chelsea and her mom are anxious to get a phone call from their relative that will tell them what's wrong with the grandfather. The main conflict is that Chelsea and her mother are worried about the grandfather because they haven't talked to him in a while. He is sick in the hospital, and they are worried because they're family.

Climax: (4-6 sentences)
The phone finally rings. The mother picks it up and starts to cry. Chelsea went to her Mom, and she understood what happened. The mother couldn't talk because she was crying, but then she was able to say that the grandfather died ten minutes ago. Chelsea said that it finally hit her that her grandfather was gone when she saw her mom crying.

Resolution: (4-6 sentences)
Chelsea tells herself that everything is going to be ok. Chelsea reminds herself of all the wonderful things about her grandfather. She comforts herself by saying that he will always look after her. After she comforts herself, she is able to say goodbye.

Choose a theme in your book and compare to any piece of literature we have read in class. What is similar? What is different? What have you learned about the human experience? (7-10 sentences)

A theme in A Final Goodbye is that love can help you get through loss. Chelsea is very sad when she learns that her grandfather has died, but she remembers all the good things about him, and that lets her say goodbye. A similar theme is present in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Charlie is very sad when Sam and Patrick leave for college. He almost kills himself over it. Charlie gets help from a therapist who tells him that he's not alone. This allows Charlie to overcome his feelings of loss, and move on. The difference is Charlie's memories made him feel bad, and Chelsea's memories made her happy.

[Monis · Rating 5 out of 5]

HEHE I LOVE CHICKEN SOUP BOOKS!!

[Nevaeh F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about times in peoples lives that were hard, complicated, or great. This book has 101 real stories that are about 2 pages long. I love to listen to real stories that happened in peoples lives so I know what to do if it ever happened to me. My favorite story in this book is A Mental Cancer by Spencer Scarvey. If you like books like this I recommend this book to you.

[Kalvin Chi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was an amazing book because it was about the middle school experiences of other people. I also liked this book because it teaches people about what they should and shouldn't do in middle school which is really helpful to me since I am in middle school. For example, there was a girl named Nancy Gilliam who wrote a story about the time she went to Wagner Junior High School. She said that when she got there, she met a girl named Sophia and she always did what Sophia told her to do. Nancy said that they were really good friends, but then Nancy met a boy in the schools Drama Club. Sophia got mad at Nancy because she was hanging out with a white boy and she started spreading rumors about Nancy being racist which wasn't true at all. Sophia even got everyone in the school to shun Nancy and Nancy had no friends for the next few months. Then, one day Nancy met a girl name Brynn who welcomed her into her circle of friends and her family. It turns out that Nancy and Brynn were friends even after thirty years. This showed me that I should be more careful when choosing my friends because I might not know what they could do later on. There are 101 stories in this book and all of them taught me about the important things to remember about middle school. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for advice about middle school or anyone who just wants to read about the middle school experiences of other people.

[Simon Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School: 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Younger Teens was about each teen telling their own story about middle school.even though the students would get bullied, but even though that happens these middle school students would always find a way to bring themselves back up with the help with some friends.
I would recommend this book to almost anyone who has or will have trouble surviving middle school.There are ways that people/students could get what they want. For example Bullies could be using you for many reasons,Money,Corruption And loads of more.but if we can make this world a better place than it is then we may have a shot at winning against the world.this book reminds me of the time when i was in the most terrible school known to mankind the schools name was ps 138 located in the Bronx.Boy did i have the worst schoolhood in the entire life.so if you are having trouble in school or middle school then this book is for you.

[AviT · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School: 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Younger Teens" is a compilation of experiences written by different people. It included excerpts about finding yourself and standing strong against what other people say. I learned to not rush into situations or decisions without thinking about the consequences first, and to choose who I was friends with wisely. I also learned that even on your bad days, someone else may need support and to always try and at least listen to people. I would recommend this book to middle school teens who want advice on how to discover themselves.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about all experiences of teens around the world. Hard times, happy times, embarrassing times, sad times, good times, and more. There are 101 stories, and some of them are poems. I love the poems in this book because the author's voice is really clear. After I read this book, I actually felt like I experienced all of these stories. If you are having a hard time with your friends or family, I strongly recommend you reading this.

[Nina Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now in middle school we all have problems between friends, family members, bullies, true friends or not, grades, how you look and a lot more. You may have the same problems with the characters in the book and you don't know how to solve it and you are afraid others will laugh at you when you tell them your problems. In the book, the characters have the same problems as you and if you don't know how to solve it, read the book. It might help you to overcome or solve the problems.

[Victoria O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the way the book was. There were some stories that I cried. In a story, when the prettiest girl in a school died by car accident. I was so shocked and impressed by the way storyteller explained how the girl was pretty and great and how the storyteller felt when she heard it. But I rated it 4 because it was a little bit too long.

[Jonathan M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This had wonderful people who shared what happened in their lives. I loved all their stories some were just boring to me and weird but it was a little bit badder than Odd Girl Speaks Out. In that book, there was some really scary things that I shouldn't know about. What really depressed me is that the book gave in some the same people who teaches teens a lesson.

[Seri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope I found this book earlier, when I found it I was about three weeks from graduating middle school. However, I bought it for my sister who is going to be a seventh grader after the summer, hoping that she gets the ideas and lessons in the stories and succeed in middle school. :-)

[Subin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It told stories about teenage love, bullying, sad momments etc. This book taught me a lesson that i must be nice to my friends and of course, my family. Everything was okay but it was TOO LONG!! I often got bored in the last bit however, i mostly thought it was interesting while reading ^-^

[Ashley hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book teaches kids in middle school not to bully people just because they are different.It affects the people who you bully and their families because i'm sure they notice a change in your behavior.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a often hilarious and sad book but it's great it's has a couple heart retching stories in it that make you want to Stand up to the kid that's getting bullied I would recommend it to people that are in 7th grade and older

[Edgar duran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book was sad and made me very emotional.I loved this book,it was so far my favorite.I think this book is my favorite because it teaches me alot about middle school and about experiences in middle school.

[Mcdanielm]

I especially liked the story in it written by JULIA!!!

[Emma Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teens talk about there hardships in middle school.

[Madelynnrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great book!

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

these are some really heart warming stories. and they fit the middle school ctegory really well!

[Mia Sverdlov]

I think that this book has taught Tweens and teenagers the problems that they have to face during this time and the book is about Tweens just like us sharing their stories.

[Gabrielle Roubanian · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a great book it taught me along and i love the way it was set up and how everyones story was just so different it really was a good book!

[Imani]

i think this book was really good.this book had a lot of ups and downs.i liked everything about this book.

[Cynthia Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, amazing, amazing. I loved this book. The stories are so true of middle school. They brought me back to my time during those years.

[Marielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relatable stories

[Karav]

Counts as two book

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had some really good stories! Great for kids going into middle school!

[Super XXXXX Man · Rating 2 out of 5]

very boring but the embarrassing moments were sometimes funny

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It has so many good stories for every person. Very inspiring.