Words of a Journey: My Thoughts on Life and Living

Kaitlyn Kashman
Modern History Press (2011)
ISBN  9781615990528
Reviewed by Theresa La (age 16) for Reader Reviews (09/10)

Life.  A four-letter word that sounds so simple, but it’s only a disguise for the true rollercoaster that life is.  The teenage years are one of the most difficult periods of life to navigate.  Many times problems become too personal to talk about with parents and friends.  Many times these problems can weigh you down and it’s difficult to know how to cope with these problems.  This book is about the life of a teenager and her reflections and the way in which she has dealt with them.  There are also inspirational quotes about what she observes around her and the emotions and thoughts that are connected with those observations.  There are also many interesting thoughts that give a new perspective on things that have become such an integral part of life that many people now take for granted.  This book helps the reader to take a step back from a busy and disturbed life to reorganize priorities and reevaluate their lives.

This book came at a perfect time in my life.  Summer is ending and I have an overload of homework to do. As I was reading this book to review, it helped calm me down and helped to see the bigger picture.  I like the title of this book.  I liked how each of the pages had a lined page across from it so that the reader could reflect on his/her thoughts as the same time.  I really enjoyed reading all the short stories and reflections and many of these reflections could relate to many people.  My favorite quote was “Our biggest fear in life is to fail, but failure can sometimes be the best thing. We learn from every mistake and we achieve great things because of them. “This is certainly true as the pressure rises each day to for students to get into the best colleges, the top schools.”  However with this quote, it reminds me that failure has led to some of the greatest achievements and with every mistake that we make, we could learn a lot and those mistakes could change our lives.  I would suggest that, if possible, the author include a possible quote from a famous person who echoes the same thought or a quick short story of someone who was successful and embodies the same reflection that Kaitlyn has. This story reminds me much of the “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Souls,” but I can connect to this one more because it’s more female-oriented and I can relate to these stories better. I would suggest this to any teenager, especially any female teenager who is feeling the stress of life and wants to know that someone else has also gone through the same problems and how they dealt with the problem.  This was a motivational book and an inspiring read!  This book has a great format.