13 year old teacher!

I have a 13 year old girl who attends one of my Weight watcher meetings with her grandma.  The beautiful thing about this is she comes with her grandma and her other grandma is there saving them a seat. The love that is demonstrated as I see this young teen flanked on each side by a loving and caring grandma is just beautiful  Her mother is unable to attend that meeting so comes to one I lead during the week so she can reinforce what the young teen is learning.  She is attending with the approval of her Doctor and is coming to learn about healthy eating habits, balance in what she eats, increasing her activity, and serving sizes. She is quiet and shy and usually does not participate vocally in the meeting. A couple of weeks ago she raised her hand and said she wanted to tell us about a book she had read. She was very animated and excited about the book. She explained that it was on the list of recommended books for her grade to read.  She described the book about a teenage girl who weighed 300 pounds and about her journey to learn to love herself.  The book is titled "Skinny." The Author is Donna Cooner. I decided that I would get the book and see just why this teen was so impressed to share with us.  I read the book in about 3 days.  It is written for the teen crowd but I really enjoyed it.  "Skinny" is what the girl in the book named that "voice" that she had in her head.  That voice we all have in our head.  The voice that talks to us and tells us we are not good enough, or pretty enough, or strong enough etc.... I was surprised at how I could relate and appreciate the lessons  in this book.  We all have that voice that whisper to us. Often that voice prevents us from doing something that we want because of the doubt it creates. We all have that voice but we all have the choice to listen to it and let it stop us or go on with a new voice that tells us positive things.  I am so glad I listened to that quiet teen as she shared a very important message. I hope the Author knows how important her message is to not just the teenage readers but to this oldster too.