The Underground Girls of Kabul: The Hidden Lives of Afghan Girls Disguised as Boys
8.0
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An Afghan woman's life expectancy is just 44 years, and her life cycle often begins and ends in...
Teenager Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Trouble-shooting Tips, and Advice on Adolescent Maintenance
Sarah Jordan and Janice Hillman
Book
In "The Teen Owner's Manual", Sarah Jordan and Dr. Janice Hillman show how to navigate every stage...
The Middle Years
6.0
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This is not a book about parenting. There are 1.3 billion of those already, and the main thrust is,...
Non Fiction Parenting Teenagers Divorce
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Turning Red (2022) in Movies
Mar 7, 2022
Set in 1990s Toronto, the film centers around 8th grader Mei (Rosalie Chiang), who considers herself an adult at 13 and eagerly applies herself to school when she is not helping her family tour business at a local Temple or hanging with her friends.
Life comes crashing to a halt when after a traumatic day of embarrassment; Mei awakens in the form of a large Red Panda. In a panic, Mei attempts to hide her situation which causes her over-protective mother to assume it is Puberty related and that her hormones are kicking in.
Mei desperately wants to get her life back to normal and learns that as long as she is calm her Panda is under control. However, this proves to be harder than expected and soon Mei learns that the Panda is the result of a family bloodline but there is a way to end it during a Lunar ceremony in a couple of weeks.
Chaos soon follows as Mei struggles with her situation and must find a way to cope with the changes that are going on and make some very important decisions about her life and her future.
The film is a difficult one to review for me as never having been a teenage girl dealing with puberty, raging estrogen, and the issues that go with it. That being said the film struggles to find a balance as it tacks on the capers of Mei in Panda form without being overly funny or charming and keeps the focus on Teen Angst, puberty-related issues and becoming an adult.
The film lacks the interesting characters, charm, and appeal that have set the foundation for so many Pixar films and it is surprising that a company that can elicit a range of emotions in an animated short fail to really connect with their latest feature. There were some amusing parts but the film as a whole was rather dull and lacked much in the way of humor and was very predictable.
The decision to put the film directly on Disney+ as the studio’s recent “Soul” and “Luca” was raised some controversy but in the end, I do believe it was the right decision as “Turning Red” is not likely to be a film that draws people to the cinema beyond the opening weekend.
It is a film that is a bold step for the company, but one that lacks the charm and humor of previous films as not everyone is going to want to sit through a feature-length film on teenage angst and dealing with changing bodies and the emotional turmoil that follows. However, the target audience is likely to connect with the characters and it will be interesting to see what the reaction to the film is long-term.
3 stars out of 5
“Turning Red” will debut on Disney+ on March 11th
Being Me (and Loving it): Stories and Activities to Help Build Self-Esteem, Confidence, Positive Body Image and Resilience in Children
Naomi Richards and Julia Hague
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With 29 real life and relatable stories at its heart, this practical resource is designed to help...
Apocalypse for Beginners
Book
Mickey is your average teenage boy, until he meets 17 year old Hope Randall. Living in what was once...
Counseling Transgender and Non-Binary Youth: The Essential Guide
Book
There are growing numbers of youth who identify as transgender, and as a result, clinicians and...
Otway93 (567 KP) rated The Blue Lagoon (1980) in Movies
Sep 25, 2022
I'm going to start with the negatives, as somehow this film has very few redeeming features.
Brook Shields (to be fair, only 14 at the time), and Christopher Atkins are absolutely awful actors at this early stage in their careers.
The story is highly predictable for the most part, it's very much the typical "stranded on a desert island" film, with somehow every single cliché included, apart from the ending (which remains somewhat ambiguous), and the scenes featuring the two learning about their bodies as they hit puberty.
Despite all this, the film is really enjoyable! It's not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, but somehow it has a certain charm and innocence that will keep you watching, and want to watch it again.
Overall, definitely worth a watch :)
Enjoy everyone!
James Koppert (2698 KP) rated Demon Road in Books
Nov 26, 2019
This takes place in our world and in our world are demons, some of whom have made deals with high demons for powers and in return has to do terrible things as payment. The lead character is the daughter of such demons but is a normal girl...until she hits puberty. But then she finds out her parents don't quite have her best interests at heart.
I don't read many teen books unless sent for me to review or because i am reading to my kids but this is a gripping brilliant read. it is so cinematic it deserves to become a movie.
Characters are very strong, the adventure is adrenaline fuelled and its done in a completely non cheesy way. Its brilliant and I went straight to book two afterwards.
Savage Energies: Lessons of Myth and Ritual in Ancient Greece
Book
We often think of classical Greek society as a model of rationality and order. Yet as Walter Burkert...