Growing up can be tough for preteens... especially these days. As parents, you want to support them... offer advice. But often times that is met with an eye roll or a shut door. Now what?

I am really excited to share the stories in our new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive for Preteens. Stories about situations your preteen may be experiencing but with advice and encouragement from kids their own age!

Here are previews of two of my favorite stories with tips for your preteen on doing the right thing and being grateful:

Make true friends to be truly popular.
In her story "The Real Popular Table" Victoria Fedden used to watch the “popular girls” across the middle school cafeteria and wish she could get a seat at their table. But then she walked by them one day and they made fun of her. Victoria sat down with her own friends and had an epiphany: “Why would I even want to be friends with people who were so mean?” She looked around and spotted a boy sitting by himself and impulsively asked him to come and sit with her and her friends.

Victoria says, “From then on, we made a point to invite everyone the popular girls made fun of to eat at our lunch table.” Eventually, Victoria’s table was even a refuge for girls who’d been kicked out of the popular group. She says, “When I looked at my group of friends, which seemed to grow every day, I understood where the true ‘popular table’ was in our middle school cafeteria and knew that I had gotten my wish after all.”

Learn to count your blessings.
In Suzanne De Vita's story "Learning to Love My Messy Life" she envied her friend Michelle, who lived in a large, tidy, quiet house. She admired her huge bedroom, her toys, and her nanny and housekeeper. She failed to notice that Michelle’s parents were rarely home, or that Michelle was lonely when Suzanne wasn’t there.

It was only when Michelle came to visit Suzanne’s messy, chaotic house, overflowing with her five siblings and her parents, that Suzanne noticed how much fun her own home was. Michelle was soaking it in, laughing with the family during dinner and enjoying every moment. She told Suzanne, “You’re so lucky you have such a big family.” Suzanne concludes her story by saying, “Suddenly, my house—my crowded, messy, loud house—seemed like paradise.”