The Highly Sensitive Teen by Lea Noring is a great resource for both teens and their parents. As the parent of a 14-year-old, I found the book insightful and incredibly practical. Noring provides tools to help highly sensitive teens see their sensitivity as a strength, offering relatable advice on managing emotions, setting boundaries, and building self-confidence.

I especially appreciated how the book normalizes sensitivity and reframes it as a superpower. The strategies are actionable without being overwhelming, and my teenager has already found them helpful. While it’s written for teens, I think adults who identify as highly sensitive would also benefit from the empowering perspective.

This book felt extremely basic. It's already fairly short (ca. 150 pages) but the amount of substance could be summarized by a 15-minute youtube video: recognize your needs, set the boundaries, tell people about your needs. It's another book "for teens" that tries to paint a naive picture of the world where all families are supportive, all teachers understanding and peers friendly and not bullying at all. Someone hurt you? Just talk to them. Nvm that now they'll know you're bothered and will pick on you even more. I guess for that we aren't really given any tools, esp. when walking away isn't an option.

I seriously need to stop requesting "self-help" non-fiction because they always hit the same notes, i.e. "just change your mindset and everything will be fine". Or "just communicate your needs and boundaries and everyone will be nice and understanding and accommodate you".

I remember when I was 10 and on a 3-week long school trip and after 2 weeks I told my "friend" / roommate to leave me alone for a bit because I needed space and she took it as a grave offense and stopped being my friend. I was 11 on a summer camp where 2 other roommates would trample my bed in their shoes because "they needed to access the mirror" to put gel in their hair (11yo girls btw) and telling them not to walk with shoes on the bed was met with laughter and "y so srs" "this isn't a big deal". This wasn't the only time they were obnoxious. Tons and tons of stories including them throwing cubes of processed cheese and messing up the whole balcony. I was calling my parents to take me away, but nope, I needed to force myself to socialize and fit in, according to them. Finally I managed to get moved to a spot in a room with 7yos who were at least not complete brats.

No, you can't reason with peers, and no, your teachers and parents won't do anything because you need to "toughen up" and "learn to fit in" and "no wonder nobody likes you when you're so antisocial". Somehow, no book tells me how to deal with THAT. No one will give me tools how to deal with people who are deliberately selfish, ignorant and cruel.

I guess it's not very politically correct in the world of "think positive" to point out that people, on average, aren't very accommodating, because it inconveniences them and they simply don't care and will continue as they were no matter what you tell them, how you tell them, and how many times you restate it.

Now, many years later, I have neighbours who keep playing loud music / tv at night, you think they stopped after they were told numerous times to tone it down at night? Ofc not.

You can't reform people and then you'll be told it's all your fault because you didn't communicate enough or hold the boundary firm enough.

Truth is, if "just tell them" worked nobody would need self-help because that's the first idea everyone has. And then they find out it works maybe on 10% of the people the rest will keep ignoring your requests and doing w/e they want.

We always hear "just be assertive", "stand up for yourself" because that shifts the responsibility to you and your behaviour rather than the people who are deliberately obnoxious.

Thank you New Harbinger Publications for the ARC.

I received this book as an advanced reader copy for my honest opinion. I am a highly sensitive person and have a son who is as well. This book is incredibly informative and I plan to gift him the paperback copy when it releases. This book starts off with a quiz to see if you fall into the HSP category, then it goes into how to approach parents, teachers, friends, etc about why some things are so upsetting and how to work around that. The book gives very specific tips on what to do in certain situations like for example when your sense of smell is affected, you can step outside, open a window, chew a piece of gum, smell something that is pleasing to you, put on a mask…it does this for all the senses and provides practical solutions for getting out of situations when you are extremely bothered. The book addresses interpersonal conflicts, being away from home and more. I think this is an excellent book for anyone who is highly sensitive or has a sensitive family member or stident. It would be an amazing gift for an HSP teen.

This is my honest opinion on this book. I rate it 5 stars.

This was the book that I needed as a Teen. It makes understanding the personality of a Highly Sensitive Person super easy. I also loved all the practical tips for walking through the world with this extra gift. I will definitely be getting a copy of this for my classroom, when it's released.
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

This was a really great resource, thank you so much for this ARC opportunity. Our household is highly sensitive, we are mostly learning what that means now. Our oldest is entering preteen phase and we’re seeing changes already where we feel in over our head. This has given me some peace of mind and reassurance. I want to get this for the shelf for her to start looking through and it to be there when she’s ready. Thank you again!