Advice for tweens and teens on building healthy relationships and avoiding toxic ones.Zucker uses brief stories involving middle school students to illustrate social power, or the dynamic between peers. When this becomes unbalanced, the resulting shift in power can be mild or extreme, resulting in stress, belittling, and even bullying. However, when it's balanced there's mutual respect and generosity. With this foundation in place, the author moves on to offer examples of balanced and unbalanced interactions told in dialogue bubbles and from there, advice and examples. Individual chapters tackle concepts like assertiveness, self-confidence, self-control, the unique problems presented by social media, and strategies for repairing unhealthy interactions. These often include concise checklists. In the penultimate chapter, readers are reminded to nurture positive thinking, which takes practice, and are given concrete strategies. Finally, the book wraps up with information about cultivating resilience. Zucker's advice lands best when accompanied by dramatizations or by the stories of individual teens who have succeeded by following her guidelines. The lively design, including playful illustrations, makes for accessible reading, with ideas unpacked into digestible pieces. Some concepts may be too abstract for younger readers, who may require help from adults to understand and implement them. The extensive list of resources that concludes the book has recommended reading lists for both caregivers and young people.A breezy guide for fostering a happy adolescence by maneuvering its challenges and pitfalls. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 11-14)

Gr 4–7— This self-help book aimed at middle schoolers guides readers through difficulties in interpersonal relationships while helping them develop new skills to equalize power in situations where other kids are treating them poorly. Starting with the premise that ignoring people who treat you badly is bad advice, the book encourages readers to take action by teaching them how to restore the balance of power in a relationship and be assertive. Each section includes tips; graphics that illustrate the tips, and examples of kids dealing with each situation and how they use their skills to take back their power by communication through conversation or text. There is an effort to build agency and empower kids to handle issues on their own. While some of the graphics skew young, the message of the content is clear and reinforced through examples and opportunities for practice and reflection. All examples end up with positive resolutions, but there is much mention about the need for practice and being prepared if things don't go well. The language is accessible, messaging consistent, and the skills shared build upon each other over the course of the book. A lengthy resources section has materials for further learning. VERDICT In a time of rising anxiety and emphasis on SEL, this book aims to equip readers to bolster self-confidence and agency to take action for healthier relationships and selves and successfully hits the mark.— Erin Wyatt