Free Book Give Away! What's Inside Your Backpack?

Here's a book school counselors will reach for again and again! Beautifully illustrated, with a diverse collection of story characters, What's Inside Your Backpack? tells the story of Zoey Harmon who is carrying around a lot of fears she's not sure how to handle.  Like many of the students school counselors see, Zoey feels alone and ashamed because of things that have happened to her and worries about what others will think if they know about her life.  She also worries about losing a friend if they were to know what she was going through.  Her worries are portrayed as heavy books she shoulders each day in her backpack. As school counselors, we know our students can relate to Zoey's heavy backpack of "books" as we see them carrying around the weight of their own life circumstances each day.

Zoey is supported by her mother, teacher, and school counselor who encourage her find ways to ease the load of worry, shame, sadness, and unsafe parent books weighing her down. They share the idea of placing positive bookmarks in each of the heavy books she carries. These "bright" thoughts help Zoey address specific negative thoughts she has when faced with the burden of a particularly heavy "book" and remind her she is brave and can feel safe even when feeling scared and remembering bad things.  These book marks don't magically solve her problems, but help Zoey build confidence and resilience as she faces the fears represented in each "book."

Check out this video by author, Jessica Sinarski as she describes her motivation for writing, What's Inside Your Backpack?

Two FREE Books

Thank you to the National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies of What's Inside Your Backpack for this give-away!  Please like/follow them @nationalcenterforyouthissues.  

To enter this give-away, leave a comment below this blog post, on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, or the School Counselor Store Facebook page with a strategy you  use to support students dealing with negative thoughts.  Winners will be selected at random and announced on Sunday, February 7 at midnight EST.  The more places you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Check back here or on Facebook for winners.

Good Luck!!! 

Thank you to everyone who shared their ideas! Congratulations to winners Sierra Skye Daniels and Vickie Ridenour!