"For Tulane University's 2018 commencement, Jesmyn Ward delivered a stirring speech about the value of hard work and the importance of respect for oneself and others. Speaking about the challenges she and her family overcame, Ward inspired everyone in the audience with her meditation on tenacity in the face of hardship. Ward's moving words will inspire listeners as they prepare for the next chapter in their lives, whether, like Ward, they are the...

Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer and hates books, but soon learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams.

Kids today are depressed and anxious. They also seem to feel entitled to every advantage and unwilling to make the leap into adulthood. As Polly Young-Eisendrath makes clear in this brilliant account of where a generation has gone astray, parents trying to make their children feel special are unwittingly interfering with their kids' ability to accept themselves and cope with life. Clarifying an enormous cultural change, The Self-Esteem Trap shows...

Each night, when Ben falls asleep, his Crayons enter a magical Crayon Box that transports them to Color City, a world of dazzling hues and soaring fantasy. When timid Yellow is accidentally left behind in Ben's room, she inadvertently awakens two Unfinished Drawings. They follow Yellow to Color City where they wreak havoc and stop the flow of the enchanted Rainbow Waterfall that provides all the color to the Crayons. It's up to Yellow and her fellow...

"Emerson, Georgia and Marley have been best friends ever since they met at a weight-loss camp as teens. When Emerson tragically passes away, she leaves one final wish for her best friends: to conquer the fears they still carry as adults. For each of them, that means something different. For Marley, it is coming to terms with the survivor's guilt she has carried around since her twin sister's death, which has left her blind to the real chance for romance...

"Natalia De La Cruz Rivera y Santiago, also known as Nat, was swimming neighborhood kids out of their money at the local Inglewood pool when her life changed. The LA Mermaids performed, emerging out of the water with matching sequined swimsuits, and it was then that synchronized swimming stole her heart. The problem? Her activist mom and professor dad think it's a sport with too much emphasis on looks --on being thin and white. Nat grew up the youngest...

Overweight sixteen-year-old Charlie yearned for her first kiss while her perfect best friend, Amelia, fell in love, so when she finally starts dating and learns the boy asked Amelia out first, she is devastated.

"On this playfully illustrated journey with Bob Staake, children and adults alike will discover an encouraging truth: our path through life is not only challenging and beautiful--it is all our own to discover and invent. You will walk. You will walk along a well-worn path that many people have taken--and long before you. So begins this inspirational journey over gentle, grassy hills, through fields of wildflowers, over raging rivers, up steep mountains,...

The journey to self-esteem is set in motion by an encounter with something we all have: a good flaw. And acceptance, just saying yes to the presence of a good flaw, is the way to cross into a world where wholeness, realness, and self-expression can put an end to bullying and combat negativity with positivity.