Feeding the Hungry Minds of Teens

When I was talking at the Library at the book signing event, my 11-year-old son came in (on his way on a roller skating outing). He sat down in the audience and listened attentively. When we went home, he told me he was impressed. He always thought that homeopathy must have be something good, because I was doing it, but now he actually wants to read the book.
So he did. He read a few of the cases and he told me it made him feel so good that those people got better. And it made him feel even better, that he knew that his mom did that.
When he first asked me to give him a copy to read, I was suddenly not sure how he would take it. Then I suggested that he read some of the kids' cases, which he did. It did resonate with him and I think he found a small peek into a different way of looking at the world. When kids are surrounded by a very homogeneous culture (the preteen and teen -scene is extremely homogeneous, to the contrary of what teens think), it is an important task to keep those young minds working. Reading is one of the best ways to achieve that. At this age the avid readers read fiction - which is great for their developing minds: a wonderful bridge between childhood imagination and establishing their future identity. But I always feel truly successful as a mother (my children are 19, 15, 13, 11 and 2), when I manage to encourage them to get excited about ideas that trigger thinking or social awareness. I did not expect that among my book's audience would be many teens, but who knows; maybe they will find some eye openers in it. When teens come to see me as my clients, I often feel they do not expect that I am really interested in them. They do not expect that their ideas can be truly insightful. It takes some time before they ease into the interview and open up their world for me. Sooner or later they realize that I am not just some kind of a freak for being interested in them, but I can actually show them a part of their inner world that is unique. (Often it is in a different area where they had thought they were unique!) I always appreciate when teens decide to talk to me. And now I am looking forward to hearing their comments on my book, as well.