Be Confident Be You by Becky Goddard-Hill

Be Confident Be You by Becky Goddard-Hill is a young adult self-help book all about positive changes teenagers can make to cope with the teenage years much better and develop their confidence. Covering topics from communication and public speaking to positive self-talk and how to develop friendships, this is an excellent book for teenagers of any age to read through to help with the difficulties of adolescence. Filled with activities throughout, this positive, insightful guide is both informative and practical.

I liked this book for a few reasons. Firstly, it focuses on all of the most important topics which teenagers should know about. This includes self-care, communication and just in general how to build one's self-esteem and confidence. We all know that the teenage years can be stressful and difficult, and this guide accepts that and provides teenagers with their own toolkits to make things the best they can be. Also, this book is pitched greatly for a whole variety of teenagers. It is not pitched too basic that older teens would not want to read it and it is not too complex that younger teenagers would not be able to understand. Most important, it is a conversational tone which helps the reader feel more happy, confident and supported and as if the author is a friend or teacher giving them practical advice. Essentially, there is an element of humanity within the text.

I cannot say that there was anything I didn't like about this book. It was an informative read which I was able to flow through happily and I would hope that the target audience will be able to flow through the book nicely themselves. As previously said, the conversational tone of this book really does add value to this guide. The one point I would add on a more general note is that it would be nice to see these kinds of self-help books for teenagers include bits on exams, exam stress and all that is associated. This may include some of the psychology of memory such as Atkinson and Shiffrin's (1968) Multi-Store Model of Memory.

I do not normally include comparison paragraphs in my book reviews but I feel like I would like to in this circumstance. At the end of last year, 2022, I read and reviewed the book The Essential Social Skills Handbook for Teens by Richard Meadows which was another practical guide for teenagers covering many of the same topics as this book. I found that one similarity between the two books is that they both seemed to cover the same topics, which shows that yes these are important and helpful topics for teenagers to learn about and be able to gain some practical advice. However, The Essential Social Skills Handbook I felt was more suited to a younger teenage audience and to individuals in America, due to the American support services mentioned. This book, Be Confident Be You, I feel is better pitched for both the entire range of teenagers and those based in the United Kingdom. I would therefore recommend Be Confident Be You more for an audience based in the UK.

Altogether, I rate this book 4 stars because it is a great, informative and well-flowing practical guide for teenagers to help support them in the bulk of the challenges they may come across during their teenage years. It offers practical advice and scientific evidence throughout along with a friendly conversational tone perfect for a teenage audience. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Collins for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book in return for an honest book review.