Earl Hipp

"Fighting Invisible Tigers" is a great self-help book for teens dealing with stress. I remember back to high school and the levels of stress I felt jugging AP classes, sports, friends, family, and a job. I also remember the adults in my life saying useless and unhelpful things like, "You think you're stressed now? Just wait until you're in the real world. Then you'll know what stress is." I think if I had had access to this book in high school I would have felt more validated in my feelings of stress; that someone was acknowledging that what I was feeling was real and important and needed to be addressed.

As an adult reading this book I was reminded of some good strategies that I should be employing to deal with the stress in my life: get moving, fight stress with food, find my inner calm, stand up for myself, weave a safety net of support, take charge of my life, get time on my side, risk trying new things, stand on solid ground, and choose the upside view. Teens will like the straightforward manner the material is presented. It's not preachy and it's not overloaded with the science of stress. The scenarios presented are real, the methods for managing stress are realistic, and the quotes from real teens show that teens are not alone in battling stress. This is a must-read for every teen looking to cope.… (more)