Book Review: The House of Night Series

Well Twilight fans, while you are waiting the the "New Moon" movie to come out, I recommend you start reading the (can I say highly addictive) House of Night books by P.C. & Kristin Cast. These books are definitely young adult reading, and do contain some sexual and alcohol and drug-related scenes that may be inappropriate for some preteen readers. The comfort with homosexuality and diversity issues, as well as references to current pop-culture icons, like gossip girl, is refreshing and makes the books really interesting. There are currently four (reviewed below) books in this series and the next one, Hunted, is due out in March, 2009.

In Marked (2007), we meet the heroine of the story, Zoey, a Cherokee teenager marked as a vampyre, and special to the Goddess Nyx, in a world where humans and vampyres live together, but not in harmony. Newly marked as a fledgling vampyre Zoey joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. There are some perils associated with this transition, including her religious fanatic step-loser's reaction to her mark, and the fact that some kids die before making the change. Zoey meets great friends, finds she has amazing powers, and falls in love several times during the first book as her power and sexuality build. Before the book is over she will need her friends and her powers to bring down an evil peer and do what she knows is right. This is a great book about the power of "right" and importance of friends.

In book two of the House of Night series Zoey finds herself brutally Betrayed (2007) just when she was settling in to her new life as the leader of the Dark Sons & Daughters in the House of Night. As a vampyre goddess in training she feels like she belongs at school, when human teenagers from her past start being killed and she realizes that "all things that appear light, are not good." Blood lust and passion confuse matters when the imprinting between she and her old human boyfriend creates a telepathic connection that might just save his life. Her powers may threaten her friends, whom she needs, as well as her steadfast and loving grandmother, who seems to understand her.

Chosen (2008) begins when everything in Zoey's life is turned upside down. Her closest friends are upset with her, she is becoming friends with someone she believed was evil, her best friend is undead, and Zoey is struggling against her blood lust and passion for three males. Zoey must trust her own intuition to save Stevie Rae and embrace the powers the goddess has given her to avoid a war with humans after an adult vampyre is killed. The entire world feels wrong to Zoey, but who will believe her?

Untamed (2008) begins with life having fallen apart for Zoey. The loss of all her boyfriends and the lack of any support from her friends, coupled with her almost undead friend and one who has become almost human again make for a strange twist of reality. Zoey questions her gifts as blessings or curses, seems to pull her life together, just in time for an ancient evil to be released, threatening everything she loves.

Do not forget that I warned you these books are addictive! Have fun reading!

Photo credit: piglicker

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Oral Care for Adolescents

Good nutrition and oral hygiene are particularly important for teens, and important for healthy smiles and gums. Parents are likely to not be paying as much attention as they did when their kids were younger, and teens, may be slacking off! The evidence is that three-fourths of 13-17 year-olds have gums that bleed.

Teens have the highest number of cavities and pubertal changes seem to be associated with more inflammation of the gums, which requires better than average flossing and brushing, in addition to two dental cleanings a year. Other specific teen-related issues include sports that require mouthguards, oral piercings, eating disorders, soda consumption, and smoking.

Mouthguards
All contact sports should require a mouthguard, which is designed to absorb energy during an impact, decreasing the likelihood of trauma to the mouth. There are three types of mouthguards: 1) stock, 2) boil-and-bite, and 3) custom-made. Stock mouthguards come in different sizes, but may not fit well, the boil-and-bite are more comfortable, and of course, custom-made are the best, and most expensive.

Piercings
Oral piercings are associated with many oral complications if the piercing studio is not sanitary, or the jewelry is not surgical grade stainless steel. Infection and allergic reactions are the most common and serious complications. Piercings that are not in the right place, and the habit of "playing" with the jewelry also can lead to erosion of the teeth and gums. The best way to prevent complications is to clean the jewelry after each meal to avoid bacteria building up.

Eating Disorders
Eating disorders cause tooth enamel erosion, cavities, enlargement of the saliva glands, sensitive teeth, fungal or bacterial infections on the outside of the mouth, and dry mouth.

Smoking
Although many teens believe that "social" smoking will not hurt their health, they are wrong. Bad breath, stained teeth, loss of taste and smell, canker sores, oral cancer and gum disease are just a sample of the oral complications associated with smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), even smokers who smoke less than a half of a pack a day are three times more likely than nonsmokers to develop periodontal disease.

Soda Consumption
Soda contains phosphoric acid, which blocks the absorption of calcium, and large amounts of sugar, causing cavities and no nutritional value. Using a straw to drink soda, rinsing your mouth after drinking them, and just limiting the amount of soda can help minimize the negative effects of drinking it.

Photo credit: I'm Fantastic

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Happy Thansgiving 2008!

Whatever you celebrate at this time of year, I wanted to add my blessings! If you are not quite sure if the holiday of thanksgiving means anything to you, start a new tradition and plan the events with your family.

Here are a few traditional purposes of autumn festivals and celebrations:

• Give thanks for the harvest;
• Evaluate the past year, and identify what to harvest and what to plow under;
• Identify and cut away outworn habits and emotional baggage which are wearing you down;
• Work for balance and equilibrium in nature or in human affairs; and
• Give to those less fortunate.
  

Fall is a time of transformation and pulling in to prepare for winter - so gather those you love and do what you love, to celebrate the blessings in your life!

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Twilight: Movie Review

Talk about experiencing pop-culture! My teens and I, along with 10 of their friends, and 400 other people, maybe four of whom were male, saw the new Twilight movie at 7:40 PM on opening day Friday, November 21, 2008! I have to say, I have never heard so many female voices screaming at once - it was very exciting and (thankfully, for me) a great movie. It honored the book and even did some great scenes word-for-word, allowing the entire audience to participate, taking me back to the Rocky Horror Show days of my own adolescence!

I asked the girls after the movie what they would like to include in the review and got an assortment of comments, mostly about how "hot" the men were - particularly the bad ones! There is just something wrong about listening to teen girls say, "I am manly, hear me roar," discussing how "hot," "sexy," and "flaming," the male characters are, and how pretty Carlisle is. One said she intended to not take off her favorite character t-shirt, and in fact, might wear it inside out!

Some of the favorite, and I might add, cheesiest scenes include Edward showing Bella how his skin sparkles in the sunlight, Edward's entire family, who do not eat, preparing a meal, with the help of a cooking show, for Bella, who must be Italian, since, "duh, her name is Bella," and the introduction of Jasper, who is described as always looking like he is in pain, which later you learn is because he wants to eat the humans after only recently swearing them off in favor of animals, which the Cullen family calls "vegetarianism."

This is a wonderful movie and we just hope they have already started filming the second movie, New Moon!

Photo credit: shutterpillar

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High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is Sugar!

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and the rise in obesity have been associated with diabetes, cancer, cavities, and blood lipid levels. High-fructose corn syrup seems to have associated with "toxic waste" and I have heard kids say, "I cannot eat that - it contains high-fructose corn syrup."

Sorry, but I have news for you, it is not one thing that can be the culprit - it is the fact that we eat too much and get too little exercise - plain and simple! High-fructose corn syrup was developed in the 1960s by corn processors to provide a cheaper sweetener with the same sweetness as cane or beet sugar, and in fact, consumers did not notice the change. HFCS is corn syrup processed to increase the fructose content and then blended with pure (all-glucose) cane syrup. It is almost exactly table sugar (or sucrose) - a 50/50 mixture of fructose and glucose, and about 4 calories per gram.

Here are some interesting facts:

• Leading beverage companies began adding HFCS to soda in the 1980s.
• The United States Food and Drug Administration has ruled the HFCS is safe in 1983 and again in 1996.
• In 2005 the average US citizen consumed about 59 pounds of HFCS a year.
• An expert panel concluded that HFCS does not appear to contribute more to obesity than other caloric sweeteners.

The real issue seems to be more complex - if nutrient-poor foods (like those with a lot of sugar) are consumed at the expense of nutrient-dense foods, in conjunction with a sedentary lifestyle, then the person is at risk for obesity and the host of health risks associated with obesity. We cannot target one component in food as a culprit, instead need to discuss all the related health choices.

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What Matters in the College Application

The junior year in high school has to be some kind of stress-related test for teenagers. The poor kids are trying to get good grades, excel in any sport or extra-curricular they love, select colleges, take the SAT and subject tests, become responsible almost-adults, drive, work, and with any luck, maybe even have a crush!

So, in our roles as supportive and unconditionally loving parents, how can we help them focus on what really matters? It would be cruel to say they need high grades, extra-curricular activities that include sports, music, leadership, work experience, and community service, so what really matters?

Well, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the list (in order of importance), looks like this:

• Grades in college prep courses
• Strength of curriculum (reputation of school)
• Admission test scores (ACT or SAT)
• Grades in all other classes
• Essay or writing sample
• Class rank (if your school does this)
  
• Demonstrated interest (contact the applicant has had with the school during admission)
  
• Counselor recommendation
• Teacher recommendation
• Interview
• Subject test scores (Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate)
• Extracurricular activities
• SAT II scores
• State graduation exam scores
• Work experience

There you have it. It does all matter, so the important role for a parent is likely to help them learn how to manage time, prioritize how they spend their time, and be happy with their performance. Learning how to live with stress seems to be an important goal for juniors, and parents can help!

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Thank You - Grand Rounds 5.9

Thanks to Dr. Deb at Psychological Perspectives for including a post about parent/doctor teamwork from Teen Health 411 in Grand Rounds this week.

I enjoyed the simplicity of this week and the ability to scan so many of the submissions easily.

Photo credit: Ed Bierman

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Nebraska Parents Abandoning Teenagers ...

Strange but true, I saw this article in the associated press the other day. In Nebraska, they seem to have made an incredible error when they wrote the "Safe-Haven Law" that went into effect this summer, and was meant to protect to lives of newborns, who can be left at any hospital, no questions asked. The law enacted (is the only one in the United States) read "child" instead of "infant" or "newborn" and since July, 26 of the 31 of the children legally abandoned have been aged 11 - 18. When the story was written the state was expecting more abandoned children in reaction to news stories that the law would be rewritten to include an age limit.

Most of the children abandoned at local hospitals have been "difficult" - mentally ill, struggling with delinquency, and five of the youth were from other states. What is terribly sad to me is that these families must be desperate to even consider leaving their children, and did not realize that there are social services out there that could have helped.

What is truly strange, is that one of my daughters happens to be reading "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman, which is a great story about what it means to be "alive" in a society where unwanted teens can be salvaged for their body parts, unless they can survive until their 18th birthday, when they can no longer be unwound.

I have to say that these two stories have made some very interesting dinner conversation this week, not to mention a couple of well-behaved teens!

Photo credit: kr4gin

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Doctors Empowering Parents

I had an interesting conversation with a parent the other day about the role of doctors in teen health. She felt strongly that at the age doctors start having some time with a teen without a parent present (usually about age 12), doctors could really empower parents by telling the teen, when the parent is present, that the parent's job is x, y, or z in relation to the health issue being discussed.

For example, if the issue is getting more exercise, the doctor should say that it is the parent's job to limit screen time to under three hours a day, organize family-friendly exercise outings on the weekends, or find an exercise class that fits the family schedule. If the issue was weight, the parent's job could be to keep empty calorie snack foods out of the house, leave easy-to-grab healthy snacks in the refrigerator, and make sure that meals add up to 5-6 cups of fruits and vegetables a day.

What a great idea! This suggestion empowers parents to be involved in the health of the teen without damaging the sense of ownership and responsibility that we want to instill in the teen, and is likely to keep the number of disagreements down, as well! Teamwork - what a concept!

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Menstruation Rituals

What do female teens do to relieve menstrual discomfort? There have to be a million brilliant ideas out there from young women who have tried-and-true methods of relieving the bloating, cramps, mood swings, and tiredness that sometimes accompany periods.

Having daughters, our house includes some basics which I will share:

• Ibuprofen - which seems to work better than period-specific over-the-counter medications we have tried;
  
• Heat - we have heat wraps that stick to you for during the day at school; cloth-filled beanbags we heat in the microwave;
  
• Tea - specifically fresh grated ginger tea made with honey, chamomile; and peppermint for settling a stomach;
• Sleep - get enough;
• Exercise - get enough - it helps with PMS, too;
  
• Water - odd but true, you will feel less bloated if you drink enough liquids - and avoid your body feeling like it has to "save" the liquid;
• Avoid salt & sugar - it makes you bloat worse - but helps with PMS!
  

Feel free to try our remedies, but I want to hear your suggestions, too - please post comments!

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Blue Family in a Blue State With Blue Values

There was a very interesting article in the New Yorker by Margaret Talbot, on 11/03/08 about the number of evangelicals getting pregnant. The title was Red Sex, Blue Sex, which I thought was quite catchy, and since I am still cranky about the election, this was fun! Enjoy the day!

Sarah Palin's family is a red family. They have a 17-year-old daughter who likely says she believes in abstinence until marriage and is pregnant and plans to get married before the baby arrives versus "sneaking off to have an abortion," and is likely to report not being very close to her parents. Like other red families, they are a socially conservative Christian family, advocate abstinence-only education, denounce sex before marriage, are likely to believe that liberals are hedonistic and selfish, have heard that condoms do not work and contraception makes you look "easy," and likely do not believe in gay marriage. They may or may not know that the states with the highest divorce rates, highest teen pregnancy rates, and the earliest age of marriage, are all red states.

I on the other hand, am raising a blue family. I have a nearly 17-year-old who believes that most people will have sex before marrying, which she expects to happen when she is about 28 and was recently excited by her first kiss (please do not tell her you know), and believes she has a close relationship with her mom. Like other blue families, I am socially liberal, am tired of hearing that conservatives are the protectors of "family values," support sex education and acknowledge that the average age of first sex in the United States is 16, expect any sexual act to be consensual as well as protected by condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infection and a reliable birth control method, and I believe everyone has the right to marriage. I also have instilled in my children an expectation that they will go to college and be financially stable before they get married and begin to raise children.

The children from both families live in a world that includes access to Internet porn, celebrity sex scandals, reality TV and the sexualization of everything in advertising. We know from research that what matters actually crosses the red and blue divide - teens who delay having sex the longest are those who have had comprehensive sexuality education (which includes information about birth control), and report that parents understand them, pay attention to them and their "issues," and have fun with them.

It is not about being red or blue - it is about healthy relationships and parenting with our eyes open - come on people - our children's futures are at stake!

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Recovery From the Election

OK I admit that I have been uncommonly depressed since the election Tuesday - as my lack of posts may indicate - although the lack of pictures undermines my motivation, as well.

Do not get me wrong, I am thrilled to have a black man as president, happy that so many good things were funded (like libraries), thankful that CA Proposition 4 did not pass, which would have required me to transport teenagers across state lines to get abortions which would have landed me in prison, but people in CA voted to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples, which I am finding very difficult to accept.

My kids, who were born after civil rights, post feminism, and post Stonewall, have never witnessed this kind of discrimination and they are truly surprised by the ignorance and mean-spirited nature of the people who voted to keep gay and lesbian people from marrying.

Another serious concern I have had for months is how much misinformation there was associated with this election, and how few skills people seem to have to "unpack" media messages and learn the truth about what they are voting for. It would be easy to be swayed by the commercials if all you had read was the sample ballot description of the issue, and it is a little scary that media images can be anything a group can pay for.

OK I understand the cynicsm and depression I am feeling, I just wish i knew what to do about it!

Blessings for peace and change!

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Most Teens Ages 13 to 17 Are Vaccinated

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently estimated that as of 2007, 89.5% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 have received their recommended vaccinations. This report was based on the National Immunization Survey--Teens (NIS--Teen) that uses a national random-digit--dialing sample of telephone numbers. After a parent consents, a survey is sent to the health care provider to get their vaccination history.

There are three new vaccines recommended for adolescents since 2005: meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4; 1 dose), tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap; 1 dose), and quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV; 3 doses).

For this sample, coverage was as follows:

• 1 or more dose of either tetanus and diphtheria toxoids vaccine (Td) or Tdap after age 10 years - 72.3%
• MCV4 - 32.4%
• HPV - 25.1%
• 3 or more doses of Hepatitis B (HepB) - 87.6%
• 2 or more doses of measles, mumps & rubella (MMR) - 88.9%
• 1 or more doses of varicella (VAR) - 75.7%

This is great news given the number of uninsured teens and probably reflects the success of publicity about the new vaccines as well as health care professionals taking the time at every visit to assess vaccination history. Go us!

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Thank You - Grand Rounds

Thanks to Mother Jones at Nurse Ratched's Place for hosting Grand Rounds today and including my post about eye trouble in Grand Rounds!

This week was extremely interesting - who knew there was so much to know about the health of past presidents? My favorite entry was the sock - gross!

Photo credit: Ed Bierman

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College Costs: Reality Check

As the mother of a junior in high school, I have college on the brain. My junior is talking about how she can choose a college that is right for her (given her grades and test scores) by knowing what majors they have, whether or not they have an overseas program, whether she wants a large or small school, a co-ed or all women school, a public or private college, and how far away from home she wants to be.

We both know that what really matters to her success in college and her career is that the fit between her and the college is a good one - and that a good fit, means an engaged student, and great job prospects in her future. So, there you have it, right?

Actually, another important component of this discussion has to be cost. Your teen is old enough to understand the family's financial situation. When you are talking with your teen about college, it is important for both of you to understand the financial implications of their choices. Although many schools guarantee a financial aid package to any student admitted, parents may want to have a back-up plan that they can afford, so here is an estimate of what different options will cost.

The average estimated annual expenses of attending a California community college, including registration and fees, books, supplies, room and board (if living at home), and transportation is about $11,000.

For a California State University school, including tuition, books, supplies, meals and housing on campus, transportation, and personal expenses is about $19,000.

Attending a University of California school, including tuition, books, supplies, health insurance, room and board on campus, transportation, and personal expenses is about $26,000 a year.

Finally, the cost of private colleges each year comes in around for $50,000.

So, where is your reality?

Photo credit: atennies94

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Sore Eyes During Homework

Teens and preteens who complain of sore eyes during homework or get headaches while reading may have convergence insufficiency (CI), which makes eye muscles work harder to focus up-close. In healthy eyes, to bring print into focus, both eyes must turn slightly inward, or converge, but kids with the problem have eyes that don't turn together properly to read.

As many as one of every 20 students may have some degree of this condition, which is often missed during exams. Young children may not complain as much as teens and preteens, whose homework requires more reading.

CI is treatable, most commonly with eye training performed in a doctor's office for 3 - 4 months. If your kids complain that their eyes hurt, check with your doctor.

Photo credit: dougww

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