Merle Schell lives in the city with her two cats, LouLou and Sophie. She holds a doctorate in educational administration from Northeastern University and has 19 years of experience as a teacher at Chelsea High School. She loves gardening, cooking and crime novels. And… she just published a book.
Ten Things Teens Can Do: Take Control, Love Yourself, and Find Joy is a 43-page book and journal that promotes self-confidence, stress relief, and self-love, empowering teens and adolescents alike.
The first half of the book contains fun, everyday activities to help develop inner peace, purpose and happiness, illustrated with colorful graphics. The second half is a journal with thought-provoking prompts, such as five things you can do for yourself and five things you can do for others. The goal of the book is to show teens that they have some control over their lives.
“This book is about choices. I make suggestions for activities, but you don’t have to do them all or in any particular order. Choose what makes the most sense for you,” Schell said.
Schell has been working on this project, published through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and developed using the graphic design tool Canva, since COVID. She originally planned to create a PowerPoint presentation about teen stress, but when the pandemic hit, Schell decided to turn her ideas into a book.
“Teenagers today are under unimaginable stress. We live in very strange times, the pressure is enormous. Teenagers have no way of saying ‘stop.'”
Designing the book to meet KDP’s trim and final format requirements was a major challenge. Another hurdle for Schell was dealing with the new technology. She reluctantly downloaded Instagram and Tiktok to promote her book.
Although she was hesitant to join Facebook, she discovered a group that was doing the same thing she was doing—publishing on KDP—and joined. She learned from it: use social media as a tool.
“I’m starting to appreciate social media,” Schell laughed.
Schell also runs the website Merleschell.com, which includes a blog and newsletter, where she can think and talk about issues affecting children, teachers and parents in education.
Schell spends long hours at her desk, working on a media kit for her book, sending emails, and brainstorming her next projects. She hopes to publish a children’s book next year.
For now, Schell hopes her new book will encourage teens to take steps to get their lives back on track. Feeling out of control of your life is a stressor, Schell says. She stresses focusing on the little things you can control, like the music you listen to and the people you spend time with.
“The real intention of this book was to be non-judgmental and to take the pressure off. There are so many ways to be happy and things you can take control of. The only way you can do that is to take control of the areas of your life that you can control,” Schell said. “I really believe in this book, I believe it can help.”
“Ten Things Teenagers Can Do” is now available on Amazon.
