Chocolate For A Teens Soul Lifechanging Stories For Young Women About Growing Wise And Growing Strong

by Allenbaugh, Kay

• ISBN13: 9780684870816
• ISBN10: 0684870819
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-08
• Publisher: Touchstone

Summary

Rich, enticing, and delectable as a luscious box of chocolates, this collection offers 55 tales of life and love as a teenager. From teens of every age, including women who remember what it was like, come stories of first love, first jobs, best friends, heartbreak, hope, innocence, and the real world. Poignant, funny, and powerful, these stories tell it like it is. From the recollection of a first kiss to tales of self-consciousness about a changing body, from painful struggles with parents and grandparents to the joy of abiding family love, teens will see themselves in these pages and find comfort in knowing that they are not alone.

Author Biography

Kay Allenbaugh, creator of the Chocolate series, is a writer and speaker who is known as "The Caretaker of Stories for Women of the World." She lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Contributors to Chocolate for a Teen's Soul include bestselling authors, motivational speakers, newspaper columnists, radio hosts, spiritual leaders, psychotherapists, businesswomen, and teenagers from all over the world.

Table of Contents

Introduction	17	(4)
I ONWARD AND UPWARD
Making It Count	21	(3)
Beth Williams
Coming of Age	24	(3)
Talia Carner
Diving for It	27	(4)
Sheila Stephens
Big Hills	31	(5)
Rebecca L. Allor
The ``In'' Crowd	36	(3)
Michele Wallace Campanelli
Miss Congeniality and More	39	(2)
Maggie Bedrosian
True Colors	41	(4)
Jennifer Gordon Gray
Second Act	45	(3)
Jacquelyn B. Fletcher
The Hand-Me-Down	48	(7)
Renie Szilak Burghardt
II WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE?
Love on the Yellow Brick Road	55	(4)
Ranae Quashnock
Roller Skates and License Plates	59	(4)
Michelle Carrington
Grooming Nisha	63	(4)
Kirsten Snyder
An Angel in Disguise	67	(4)
Shelly Clark
A Magical Moment	71	(2)
Cherie Pede
Be Careful What You Ask For	73	(4)
Michelle Thomas
My True Love	77	(3)
Margaret J. (Mimi) Popp
Unforgettable Beauty	80	(3)
Jean Jeffrey Gietzen
Aisha, Marcus, and Adrian	83	(6)
Aisha D. Gayle
III GROWING PAINS
Southwick's Sweatshirt	89	(2)
Brianna Mahin-Ayers
Enhanced with Lace	91	(4)
Junette Kirkham Woller
Pretty Enough	95	(3)
Beth Schorr Jaffe
Snickers and Grace	98	(5)
Dawn S. Neely
Brown- and Blue-Eyed Bridges	103	(3)
Candis Fancher
The Tempered Bell	106	(4)
Erika Eberhardt
The Long Ride Home	110	(3)
Victoria Marissa Hurtado
Zapped	113	(3)
Robin Richards
Camp Gramma	116	(7)
Kyla Merwin
IV VISION KEEPERS
Life-School Tips I'd Tell My Daughter	123	(2)
Kay Allenbaugh
Weaving a Tapestry of Life	125	(3)
Krista Veenker Rothschild
Defining Yourself	128	(4)
Kristine Meldrum Denholm
Character Study	132	(3)
Sheila Stephens
First Impressions	135	(3)
Linda G. Engel
In the Company of Women	138	(3)
Carrie D. Thornton
Clearing the Clouds upon My Heart	141	(4)
Sheri Terjeson
True Heart	145	(8)
Ursula Bacon
V OVER, UNDER OR THROUGH
On My Own	153	(4)
Amy Johnson
Regie the Bear	157	(5)
Kathleen M. Muldoon
Other Dances	162	(2)
Paola Juvenal
Prom Dreams	164	(3)
Pam Thompson
Painting Trees	167	(3)
Alaina Smith
In Search of Mermaids	170	(4)
Barbara Davey
Butterflies and Elephants	174	(5)
Lisa Robertson
VI KEEPING THE HIGH WATCH
Getting Back On	179	(3)
Krissa Englebright
Ask and You Shall Receive	182	(2)
Ellen Urbani Hiltebrand
My Mother After All	184	(3)
Marguerite Murer
A prairie Tale	187	(3)
Nancy Kiernan
A Little Sister's Prayer	190	(4)
Diane Gonzales Bertrand
If I'd Known Then What I Know Now	194	(3)
Kay Allenbaugh
Little Girl, Big Girl	197	(1)
Ruth Achilles
More Than a Test	198	(3)
Valentina A. Bloomfield
The Wedding	201	(4)
Sharon Schafer
VII MAKING MEMORIES
Comfort in the Wild	205	(3)
Delin Cormeny
The Basket Lady	208	(3)
Kathie Harrington
My Christmas Wish	211	(3)
Lisl Hershberger
The Great Chocolate Caper	214	(3)
Sheila S. Hudson
I've Been Working on the Railroad!	217	(2)
Nancy B. Gibbs
A Special Night Out	219	(2)
Suella Walsh
Katie's Diamond	221	(2)
Katie Harrington
Having It All	223	(4)
Sarah Richardson
More Chocolate Stories	227	(2)
Contributors	229

Excerpts

Introduction

Rich stories, like chocolate, not only make you feel good, they can also serve as comfort through confusing times. Many of the stories inChocolate for a Teen's Soulare written by young women themselves. You will be amazed at the ability of these writers to tell it like it is about everything from personal triumphs, conflicts, and challenges to most embarrassing moments. Some have had to "draw a line in the sand" as they discovered their own boundaries, while others tell of first loves that were never meant to last. These true stories will help you not only survive, but flourish, as you discover what these young women from the teen years to early twenties have learned -- often the hard way -- about what it means to be growing wise and growing strong.

As I began this latest volume ofChocolatestories, I must admit that at first I felt intimidated, because while I'm young in spirit, my chronological years are showing up in many ways! My desire was to find your collective heartbeat and gather stories that talk about the things that matter most to you. I'm pleased to say that the assortment of stories offered inChocolate for a Teen's Soulare as varied -- ranging from poignant to playful -- yet connected as each of you are to one another, no matter how old you may be.

Every young woman needs a mentor -- someone older whom they can think of as having it all together. Many powerful stories in this book are written for young women by young women themselves, and they are also written by women who will serve as mentors as they look back on their own unforgettable moments with an "if I'd known then what I know now" kind of spirit.

Today, more than ever before, you have the opportunity to be high-tech and wildly creative, and to reinvent your world as you go -- but now and then you may find yourself longing for things to be more simple. With so many forces at play, it's no surprise that you may feel grateful for all the opportunities available to you and overwhelmed at the same time. In no other time in your life will you have the youthfulness to climb mountains, the fresh eyes to see the world anew, the passion for first loves, or more desire to be fiercely independent and unique. And with all these opportunities come challenge.

So grab some chocolate and sit with a friend, your older sister, your mom, your mentor, or by yourself and read the stories that are calling to you. May these stories make you laugh and cry, may they provide humor to something you might be taking too seriously, or may they be your companion as you seek answers to your own hurdles. InChocolate for a Teen's Soul,triumph always reigns -- and that's the best kind of inspiration of all!

Copyright © 2000 by Kay Allenbaugh

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Excerpted from Chocolate for a Teen's Soul: Life Changing Stories for Young Women about Growing Wise and Growing Strong by Kay Allenbaugh
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.