Wide Awake

Many of today's teenagers are tired of the pressure to compete and consume-and are looking for a different way to live their lives. This book offers an alternative: the 2,500-year old practice of Buddhism.

Written in a style that will have immediate appeal to young "seekers" and those wanting to understand the ancient teachings, this book addresses such relevant topics as peer pressure, emotional difficulties, stress, fostering peace, and even protecting the environment. For everyone looking for self-help, self-esteem, and self-awareness, this book offers advice on:

•Discovering truth in a world of hype

•Finding peace amid the ups and downs of life

•Accepting ourselves

•Working with difficult emotions

•How to meditate

•Dealing with temptations and making the right decisions about sex and drugs

•Advice on volunteering, working for peace, and protecting the environment

Diana Winston is the director of mindfulness education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) where she teaches mindfulness classes, trainings, and events for the public, as well as medical and mental health professionals, youth, and educators. She is also a member of the teachers council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Northern California and has been teaching Buddhist retreats since 2000.  She is the founder of the Buddhist Alliance for Social Engagement (BASE) with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and is an advocate for socially engaged Buddhism, teaching the interface of Buddhism and social change nationally and internationally. She is the author of Wide Awake, her book for teens, as well as the coauthor with Susan Smalley of Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness. Her CD is Mindful Meditations, available on iTunes.