WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? FOR TEENS
Spencer Johnson, M.D.
Penguin Putnam
Nonfiction
ISBN: 0399240071
96 pages

One of my most vivid memories of junior high is of a banner-length sign over the chalkboard of the room where I had English. It read: "Nothing is as constant as change." Like someone in junior high needed to be told that. The problem was: No one ever told us how to deal with change. Were we supposed to fight it? Accept that we couldn't do anything about it? If you can get past the incredibly, um, cheesy premise of the latest incarnation of the popular yet controversial WHO MOVED MY CHEESE books, there might be a few answers in store for you. Maybe.

The book uses a metaphor of mice, cheese and a maze to try to help its readers realize that life's changes are inevitable and, in order to get what we desire most (the cheese), we have to be unafraid to change and make choices that will get us closer to the "cheese." Unfortunately, the book wavers between making the metaphor too hazy and beating the reader over the head with it. The opening conversation between the human characters is contrived and unrealistic, a deterrent to reading the story itself. The human characters act, at the end of the story, as though they've been through some life-altering experience. Even though the message is important, the reader can't help but laugh at the "Full House" styled ending. If you're looking to learn a little about life and how to make yours into what you want, I'd recommend the much more readable THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEENS by Sean Covey.

   --- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft

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