Book Nook: For Teens and Young Adults looking for Self-Improvement!

Here is a roundup of books from Mango publishing for teens and young adults looking for ways to learn new skills or be inspired.

Trust the Grind: How World-Class Athletes Got To The Top reveals how these men and women reached the heights of their profession so that you can too. Each chapter tells a different story, as each superstar shares the habit that helped them accomplish their goals and reach the pinnacle of their profession. Guaranteed to tap into your athletic edge, Trust the Grind, is made for sports fans and nonfans alike. Fans of professional athletes get an in-depth look at their heroes’ climb to the top; those less passionate about sports have the chance to read the secrets of success from some of the most talented people in the world. Both learn pivotal life lessons, and can immediately instill these particular traits and habits into their own lifestyle.
Figuring out how to make friends, develop relationships and to be confident is a step-by-step process. Now help is available in Embracing the Awkward, written by the popular teen-advice-YouTuber, The Josh Speaks. This down-to-earth guide helps you take small steps towards being somebody great. This isn’t another dry instructional book written by a boring adult disconnected from the millennial reality, it’s a guide, a workbook, an empowering step towards trying things out, discovering who you are and becoming your best self.
Depression and anxiety are topics that can be uncomfortable to talk about, but that doesn’t mean they should be avoided. If anything, it means we need to be more aware and have more conversations about them. With the help of her adorable illustrations, art blogger Kate Allan (known through her remarkably popular Tumblr blog as “The Latest Kate”) urges us to be mindful of our mentality in It’s Your Weirdness that Makes You Wonderful: A Self-Acceptance Prompt Journal.

For Teens and Young Adults Who Want to Learn Something New!
The Book of Awesome Black Americans: Scientific Pioneers, Trailblazing Entrepreneurs, Barrier-Breaking Activists and Afro-Futurists looks at Black Americans who have shaped their country and beyond: We are familiar with a handful of African Americans who are mentioned in American history books, but there are also countless others who do not get recognized in mainstream media. Their actions may not have appeared to shake the world, but their contributions to shifting American culture were just as groundbreaking. African Americans have made history by challenging and changing the American landscape.
Be entertained by education: Learning doesn’t have to be boring. With his fun sense of humor, Patrick explains each name with jokes and quips you’re bound to enjoy. Full of pictures and packed with great information, The Origin of Names, Words and Everything in Between has a variety of topics that are bound to intrigue anyone interested in the origins of the words we use every day.
Fun facts for kids of all ages: When you take the most absurd parts of history, science, economics and geography, you end up with a pretty confusing picture of humanity. Why do we have borders, what’s the furthest you can get from the ocean, how do you qualify as a country and why did Vikings wear those silly helmets? These are just a few of the strange questions that bounce around the head of YouTube sensation Joseph Pisenti, aka RealLifeLore, that you'll find out in Answers to Questions You’ve Never Asked: Explaining the What If in Science, Geography and the Absurd.
The history and science behind the ordinary: From the creator of The Story Behind podcast comes this revelatory new book. The Story Behind will give insight into everyday objects we don’t think much about when we use them. Topics covered in the podcast will be examined in more detail along with many new fascinating topics. Learn how lollipops got started in Ancient Egypt, how podcasts were invented, and why Comic Sans was created. Learn the torture device origins of certain exercise equipment and the espionage beginnings of certain musical instruments. Ordinary things from science to art, food to sports, customs to fashion, and more are explored.
Enthusiasts of space travel, the Apollo missions, and the moon landings will love this book, For All Humankind: The Untold Stories of How the Moon Landing Inspired the World. These previously untold stories reveal the impact of the moon landings around the globe, and what having a “man on the moon” meant to the international community.
True stories of animal therapy: In Animal Kind: Lessons on Love, Fear, and Friendship from Wild Animals, Emma Lock of the wildly popular YouTube channel “Emzotic” shares stories of the incredible ways that animals keep us healthy and happy, physically and mentally. You’ll be inspired by the tales of remarkable recovery, from vision-impaired individuals who have gained independence with the help of seeing-eye dogs, to the woman who found a new life as an equestrian champion after an arm amputation.

For the Feminist Teen and Young Adult
Explore the many facets of your identity through hundreds of big and small questions in Badass Black Girl. MJ Fievre tackles topics such as family and friends, school and careers, body image, and stereotypes in this journal designed for teenage girls. By reflecting on these topics, readers confront the issues that can hold them back from living their lives.Embrace authenticity and celebrate who you are. Finding the courage to live as you are is not easy, so here’s a journal designed to help readers nurture their creativity, self-motivation, and positive self-awareness. This journal celebrates girl power and honors the strength and spirit of black girls.
Maybe you know their names, but do you know their stories? You’ll find inspiration in the company of women featured in Fabulous Female Firsts: The Trailblazers Who Led the Way. This collection includes the stories of some of the most fabulous women in world history, including Aretha Franklin, Sandra Day O’Connor, Lucy Walker, Sally Ride, Kathryn Bigelow, Misty Copeland, Viola Desmond, Pauli Murray, Emma Gatewood, General Anna Hays, Junko Tabei, and Gertrude Ederle.Fabulous Female Firsts: The Trailblazers Who Led the Way by Marlene Wagman-Geller  Young readers will find new heroes in this book. From rebel girls who refused to let their wings be clipped to the suffragettes who claimed new space for women, each trailblazer in this collection of biographies pushed the boundaries for what was possible for women in their time, even if it meant being seen as stubborn, improper, or just a train-wreck.
From saving the oceans to improving the rehabilitation and job prospects of people struggling in prison, these badass female scientists and entrepreneurs are changing the world. In The Future of Science is Female: he Brilliant Minds Shaping the 21st Century, author and award-winning journalist Zara Stone shares the fascinating, complicated stories of how a diverse group of powerful women got started―from the perspective of those still working it out as they go along. Take 22-year old Dominique Barnes, a female hero of the oceans. She was worried about all the dolphins and whales killed during shrimp farming, so the marine biologist created a tasty, affordable plant-based shrimp alternative. And she's just one of the sheroes you will discover . Real encouragement and inspiration for today's amazing girls. Forget the "ivory tower" of accomplishment. Learn about the drama, tears, and adventures everyday women heroes face as they race to fix everything the world has messed up.
When Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in South Africa’s brutal Robben Prison, he tirelessly turned to the poem Invictus. The inspirational verse by the Victorian William Ernest Henley, penned on the occasion of the amputation of his leg. Still I Rise: The Persistence of Phenomenal Women takes its title from a work by Maya Angelou and it resonates with the same spirit of an unconquerable soul, a woman who is captain of her fate. Just as Invictus brought solace to generations so does the contemporary classic. Still I Rise embodies the strength of character of the inspiring women profiled. Each chapter will outline the fall and rise of great women heroes who smashed all obstacles, rather than let all obstacles smash them. The book offers hope to those undergoing their own Sisyphean struggles.
Women hold up half the sky and, most days, do even more of the heavy lifting including childbearing and child-rearing. All after a long day at the office. Women have always been strong, true heroes ? sheroes, oftentimes unacknowledged. As we shake off the last traces of a major patriarchal hangover, women are coming into their own. In the 21st Century, all women can fully embrace their fiery fempower and celebrate their no-holds-barred individuality. It is time to acknowledge the successful women of the world, and you'll find many in The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes and Female Firsts.
A packed timeline of the greatest women writers: From the first recorded writer to current bestsellers, Becca Anderson takes us through time and highlights women who have left their mark on the literary world. This expansive compilation, Book of Awesome Women Writers: Medieval Mystics, Pioneering Poets, Fierce Feminists and First Ladies of Literature, is a chance to delve deeper into the lives and works of renowned authors and learn about some lesser known greats, as well. Some of the many women writers you will love learning about are: Maya Angelou, Jane Austen, Judy Blume, Rachel Carson, Nadine Gordimer, Margaret Mead, Joyce Carol Oates, and many, many more.

For Teens and Young Adults Who Want to Learn How to Cook!A Chopped kid chef and entrepreneur is on a mission to bring healthy food options and easy-to-cook scrumptious recipes to a busy and heavily-scheduled generation of teens. Remmi Smith, a sixteen-year-old chef who hosts two cooking shows and serves as a national Student Ambassador for a leading food services company, has written The Healthy Teen Cookbook: Around the World In 80 Fantastic Recipes, encouraging teens to take up healthy cooking as a new pastime. Each section features geographic descriptions, a full menu (from appetizer to dessert), fun facts, brain teasers, personal tips, and delicious photos of the recipes. View this book on Amazon!