Tackling Tough Topics with Kids

Are you on the offense and your older kids/younger teens on the defense when it comes to talking about tough topics? I wrote this book to put you and your 11-14-year-olds on the same team. I tried to make it non-preachy, engaging, and contemporary but also doctrinally sound. 

Each chapter focuses on a real-life challenge to faith as experienced by a fictional character. I also included statistical information about the chapter's topic, discussion questions, links to Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an activity, a prayer, and a concluding message offering practical advice for how students can deal with the respective issue. I hope Tackling Tough Topics with Faith and Fiction will be a helpful resource for caring adults who want to discuss sensitive issues with young teens.

Want to see what Tackling Tough Topics is all about? Click here to view sample pages, including a chapter on the difficult-to-talk-about issue of pornography. (Other sensitive issues covered in the book include cyberbullying, modesty, family, materialism, dishonesty, body image, substance abuse, stress to overachieve, and depression.)

The book is available from Pauline Books and Media.

Press Release for My New Book!

New Faith-based Book Helps Teachers and Parents Communicate With Tweens and Teens

Tackling Tough Topics with Faith and Fiction, a resource book, by Diana R. Jenkins, helps adults discuss sensitive subjects with kids and guide them as they face the moral challenges of the tween and teen years.

Today's young teens will face many challenges before they reach adulthood, and they'll need guidance. But it's not easy for adults to open up discussion on uncomfortable subjects....

Read more here!

New Book Out!

My new book, Tackling Tough Topics with Faith and Fiction, is out! This faith-based resource uses fiction to help you talk to 11-14-year-olds about sensitive issues like pornography, cyberbullying, depression, and more. Also included are statistics, Scriptural and Catechism connections, discussion questions, activities, and other helpful features. Get it here!

Coming Soon!

My new book, Tackling Tough Topics with Faith and Fiction will be out soon! I wrote this resource for teachers, catechists, parents, homeschoolers, and anybody else who wants help talking about difficult topics with kids 11 to 14 years old. Each chapter uses a reproducible story, discussion questions, activities, scripture references, and other material to show the value of faith in difficult times and sensitive situations. The topics covered are: pornography, cyberbullying modesty, family, body image, materialism, dishonesty, substance abuse,stress to overachieve, and depression. More news later!