To preface this review, some context of my lived experience is helpful. As someone who had a very sheltered upbringing, I was barely aware of the concept of being trans or gender diverse as a teenager. In fact, I am still in the process of self-discovery regarding my own identity. Therefore, when I saw this guide, I decided to request an advance copy in light of my younger self, my trans and gender diverse friends, and working with teenagers as part of my library job.

With that, I found this guide very approachable, informative, and useful. It teaches skills regarding self-compassion and self-care, in ways that are effective and accessible. Each chapter brings in examples and quotes from teenagers that were interviewed about their lived experiences as trans and gender diverse people. This makes it easier to connect to the scenarios and experience empathy while reading this book, and will likely help teen readers feel more seen and understood.

Additionally, the advice given within this book is actionable and simple, yet could be life-changing for teenagers who don’t have the support systems and resources they need. While some of the examples given regarding suicidal thoughts and gender dysphoria are rather dark, it is important to recognize that these are real and significant challenges that TGD youth face at disproportionate levels than their cisgender friends. Pairing with that, the authors effectively emphasize the intersectionality of identity, and how race, size, and other factors can also affect self-esteem and self-perception.

If you know teens in your life that are learning more about their gender identity and need gender-affirming support, this is a great resource focusing on maintaining a healthy mindset, boosting self-compassion, and providing tools for effective self-care.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this title.

I wanted to read this because you never know if I can recommend it to someone that needs it in the future, but I do think it puts a lot of pressure on the persona when they always have to be resilient cause it will get better. I do think we need to educate people so they can be accepting and trans/queer kids don't have to always be resilient. Do I make sense?

"The Trans and Gender Diverse Teen Resilience Guide" by Deborah Coolhart; Jayme L. Peta; Rylan Jay Testa is a well written resource for Trans* teen and I liked the inclusion of their voices. The takeaways were hard to read as they appeared white font on light gray.

This book was a really insightful read. It offers takeaways from each chapter, providing valuable insights into the experiences of various experiences and exercises to help. It is not just a self-help book, but a great understanding of different experiences. The book's messages are well-written and relatable, making it great for all ages, including older people, queer youth, and trans individuals. The takeaways provided by the book makes the reader feel grounded and meaningful, making it a valuable resource for those looking for some guidance and understanding.

This was an arc read

I had the opportunity to read this book thanks to

Netgalley

As a trans guy currently navigating his second puberty at 23 I am so grateful that future generations will have access to resources like this.
I am grateful that this book encourages young people to severe ties with people that do not nurture them. I feel like trans people are often encouraged or even expected to be the bigger person and forgive when people do not respect or even mistreat us. Not respecting my identity as a man means not respecting me.

I am grateful that this book gives several distinct exercises one can do to steady themselves and reevaluate their experiences.

This is a very versatile book touching on many different topics relating to transhood. It was a great and quick read and I recommend it even if you are not part of the LGBTQ+ community. Be an ally and inform yourself, it’s not our job to educate those around us.

I am thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

The <i>Trans and Gender Diverse Teen Resilience Guide</i> is a guide aimed at prioritizing mental health and well-being for teens who are part of the transgender and/or gender diverse community. This guide focuses on resilience, compassion, and positivity and guides the reader to integrate coping skills to manage life's challenges and build a community in order to "build a meaningful life". One unique aspect of this guide is that four trans or non-binary teenagers were interviewed as part of the guide, and their thoughts, feelings, and experiences are also integrated throughout the book. Another helpful aspect is the "key takeaways" page included at the end of each chapter for a helpful overview.

I really appreciated chapter 2, which focuses on "self-compassion" and also offers education on what self-compassion truly looks like. I also appreciated the types of coping skills included in chapter 3 which helps to normalize the challenges of body dysmorphia associated with being part of the TGD community, but also focuses on utilizing relaxation. I loved that tapping was included as a skill in this section as I believe this can be a very valuable coping skill. Another aspect that I loved about this guide is that the "self-care" chapter is extremely expansive and includes multiple avenues of self-care, many of which we tend to forget about. These include physical, medical, sexual, and emotional self-care, but also included self-care associated with academics, media, and insight into how self-care can be different for those who identify as neurodivergent. Chapter 6 focuses on building community and I personally found this to be the most impactful chapter as a reader and as a mental health professional. Overall, I thought this was a very well-written guide which could be used in clinical work if you are a therapist or school counselor, but could also be used for teens who are looking to implement changes independently and can use this guide as a tool.

Thank you to NetGalley, New Harbinger Publications, and the authors for providing an early digital ARC in exchange for my honest review! <i>The Trans and Gender Diverse Teen Resilience Guide</i> is available for purchase beginning May 1, 2025.

I haven't been a teenager for a long time but I wish I had something as helpful and informative as this when I was. This is a really great guide for TGD people, with good resources on getting help, building resilience, finding your people, and creating better and more inclusive communities. The exerts from TGD teens were a really lovely addition, and it helped to have examples of real-life experiences and how people were able to cope.

I think the book does a good job of explaining resilience and how to survive and take care of yourself really well, especially for gender diverse teens. The inclusion of real teens' experiences and stories adds a human element that takes the book beyond a typical self-help book, and legitimizes the advice beyond it being an expert's opinion. The book is definitely aimed at teens, but it does offer good advice for adults and could be enjoyed by adults. The introductions of all the authors were a smart move, which makes the book feel more real, and the answers will be more useful, and there will be evidence to prove them. The key takeaways at the end of each section was also very helpful.

A must read for any counselor. I am in the process of receiving my masters in school counseling and this will be a wonderful tool that I will use.
I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

An incredible resource for all ages. Resilience is so important and yet hard to maintain in the current political environment.

I do appreciate that the author themself identifies as nonbinary and is a health care professional. Therefore they are professionals from both their own life experience and with scientific background.
This reflects especially in the wording and use of different concepts. Offering plenty of opportunities to find themselves and explore new aspects and language.

Thank you Net Gallley and New Harbinger for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This book is an incredible resource not just for teens, but adults as well. As someone who is still learning about my own identity I found a lot of good advice and practices I will use in the future.

The authors take a lot of care in their wording of different concepts, making sure that the reader is educated on the topic at hand, as well as providing plenty of additional resources to reference.

I would recommend this book to any teen or adult who's interested in learning more about how to navigate the everyday world as a trans and/or gender non conforming person.

A great book to give to the teen in your life who is TGD! I found a lot of good advice here, I loved the emphasis on self-care and the takeaways from each chapter and I think that even teens (or adults) who aren't Trans and Gender Diverse will find something from this book.

This is a complete guide with many tips for teenagers on how to manage their mental health in a world that isn't mend for them. Although there were only a few, I did like that there were stories told by trans teens. This is a great way to connect with the story. I also highly appreciate that they took the time to write about neurodiversity, as loads of trans people are neurodiverse as well and it's likely to give them extra challenges in life.

The only thing I do have to note is that I didn't feel like the writing style was targeted towards teens. There were topics related to teens, but the text was rather dense, and I feel like a teen, especially a younger one, would struggle to get through it.

Thank you NetGalley and New Harbinger for giving me access to an e-arc for review. All opinions are my own.

I both love that this exists and hate that it has to. Well written, with language that speaks directly to teens without leaning into being patronizing. A great pick up for any library.

The Trans and Gender Diverse Teen Resilience Guide is paginated gold. I'm writing this review from the latter end of my 30s and reading the book from this perspective gives me hope that another younger generation may not need to struggle as mine did to not only understand their transness, but have their transness be fully respected by others. New Harbinger books tend to speak for themselves (i.e., they're excellent), but when their granularity is introduced vis a vis help for marginalized identities, it is worth paying even closer attention.

What I loved about this book is that it gives full treatment to concepts that can get twisted through social media definitions. For example, the chapter on Resilience does not start with defining the concept. It outlines the ways that I can be misconstrued as part of its broader meaning. The authors also take great care to include intersectional perspectives where racialized youth talk about their gender identity as part of their experience of race and vice versa. It means that in chapters like the one on belonging, intersectionality is an actually existing ethos versus a glossary footnote. It's important because the work that I've done with tweens and teens at the library has taught me that they generally see through the disingenuity of discursive smoke and mirrors that amount to little more than platitudes. What it means is that the authors have taken care to create a book that meets young people where they are in their coming out process, and transition so that they actually see themselves, their experiences, and the real world in it.

There are some practical aspects of socially transitioning that can be difficult even in adulthood, where I have access to more resources. Mitigating these difficulties is the work of self-compassion, self-care, boundaries, communication, and a solid support system. Coolhart, Peta and Testa outline how all of these are necessary components of a trans life, without the urgency of "do this or else". Trans and Gender Diverse people are aware it's difficult. We tend to live that reality every day. What changes the game for us, is books like this that do so much of the helpful work of loving validation. It goes a long way for anyone to read on the page, what this book offers in heaps: you are normal, and you are needed here for all the ways that you're different and similar to others. They go the extra mile as well, by talking about a meaningful life, which is a perspective not many trans people in my generation and older had. To conceive of yourself as being present throughout and to the end of a long life of meaning, is still something of a novelty (sadly) but this books writes it into the present as the new de facto part of being a trans person such that one sees themselves in the future, thriving because of their transness and gender diversity. Briefly, another highlight of the book for me was the chapter on feeling comfortable in your body. Before top surgery, and for decades I was experiencing dysphoria without fully understanding it. Once I had that vocabulary to do so and know my experience fully, leading me to medical professionals and eventually taking testosterone, then to top surgery (and other surgeries ahead), I understood how many years I spent numbing. Learning to be fully embodied and at ease in my own skin has been the gift of a lifetime and the exercises in this book mirror a lot of the work I'd done to get there. What better gift can one give to a trans and gender diverse youth than help like that?

I would highly recommend this book for youth who are at any stage of their transition. In particular, I would suggest that if anyone is running a gender exploration or journey group, this might make a wonderful book club addition where each meeting is based on a chapter of the book to really dive into its contents in a helpful way for attendees. Another great applicability of the book is for service providers who cater to youth, like libraries/educators/non-profits, where staff read through the book or are given the content as something to apply to their work so that policies are not the lowest common denominator and representational bare minimum of service delivery and value provision.

There's a part of me that heals every time I read books like these, because as a trans man I know how all-encompassing socially transitioning can be, and how it can wear on you to feel not only that state of contingency, but to feel like it is your job to make your transness translatable. Guides like this have so much content to help ease that burden by emphasizing that there is a beauty to transness that doesn't need explaining so that kids still get to be kids, before adulthood looms large on their horizon. I'm transitioning at 38 and sometimes wonder what it would've been like to be this comfortable and uncaring of what others think of my gender identity instead of the years I spent trying to make my gender identity fit everyone else's wants of it and for it. Being able to recommend books like The Trans and Gender Diverse Teen Resilience Guide help provide healing for their readers, and for grownups like myself, who might recommend it.

I'm very appreciative of New Harbinger for an advance reader copy of this book, accessed through NetGalley. Thank you also to the authors for writing such a great volume.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in June. We need this now more than ever. I think it's a good guide, I enjoyed that the guide makes space for various trans experiences too. Like the fact not everyone is nondisabled.

You Are Your Strongest Advocate is a valuable resource for teens navigating the challenges of adolescence. The authors provide practical advice on self-care, mindfulness, and self-advocacy, using relatable teen experiences and encouraging a kind, compassionate approach to personal growth. This book offers a safe space for teens to explore important topics and empowers them to find their voice. It's highly recommended for libraries and any teen seeking support and guidance. I have ordered a copy for my office as well as brought this up to co-workers in a meeting as this will be an invaluable resource for patients in the coming years. I received a copy of this book for review purposes.

This is a book that I hope we'll be seeing on the shelves of every library soon; it's an amazing reference guide for teens who need answers to questions that they can't ask out loud for one reason or another. I love that the authors encourage radical self-care and teach various ways to practice being mindful and kind to oneself. This book speaks to teens on their level, provides experiences from other teens so they know that they're not alone and gives relevant information on how to advocate for yourself. It really is a must-have on library shelves, especially now with so much uncertainty in these trying times.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.