Sharing Books with my Boy & Books for Tweens and Younger Teens

As I read the Happy Hooligan's blog post about reading to her boys along with  a list of their favourite books, I was hit with a wall of nostalgia that left me sad and on the verge of a depression episode.

As much as I adored reading to them when they were toddlers and little boys, for me, it got better and better as they got older!  We’d dive into these great chapter books, and tackle trilogies and series’, and just get lost in them for an hour or more every night. Read More...  

My favourite memory was when I'd cuddle up with the kids in my queen size bed and we'd take turns reading chapters of our latest book until we fell asleep. My son is now 16 and the idea of snuggling up with his mom for any reason is the stuff of horror stories.

One of the main conflicts within my novel THIRTEEN is the struggle between Jack and his mom. He wants to be his own person and his mom isn't ready to let him grow up yet. Every child grows up before their mothers are ready for them to. One day he's a little boy the next.... It's world war three.


I wrote this post, Getting Older - Cutting the Strings is So hard, on my raising siblings blog around the time I was considering writing a novel about a boy surviving war.

My son is getting older and it is so frustrating because I am having a hard time with the distance he's putting between us.  I am beginning to understand how obsolete technology must feel.  I know he doesn't mean to be mean but it still hurts just the same when he tells me he doesn't need me anymore.   

I look at him and see a young man where a boy used to be.  I wonder where all the time went and why I didn't hang on to every second of every moment with him.  I was distracted at times by work, friends, TV, books, and the internet while he was growing up.  I remember his baby years better than the last 5 years, his primary school years where friends grew more important than mom.  I long for those wonderful years when I was the only person in his world. Read More....

Has your son or daughter grown up sooner than you would have liked? Share your experiences in the comment section. Any tips for parents whose kids are becoming tweens or teens? 

If your child is still small enough to want to cuddle up with you... Click here to find out what 40 books for boys 8-16 Happy Hooligans recommends. 

About my son when he was 10 and pulling away from me.

Click here to discover the books my son and I shared together. 

Shannon Peel is the mother of two wonderful teenagers who live with her in South Surrey, BC Canada. 

She is the author of THIRTEEN a book about a boy trying to figure out who he is in a world that has turned upside down. She drew from her own conflict with her son and his personality to write the story.

THIRTEEN is her debut full size paperback novel.

Click to go to her website.

My Son wanted to be an Actor

Back in 2009 when we moved to the Vancouver area my son was in Grade 5 and had stars in his eyes. Our experience into the world of talent agents and the film industry was short lived and educational. 

Here were my thoughts back in 2009: 

The upside to moving to the Vancouver area is the large film industry here. My son has been asking me to take acting classes and get an acting agent for years now and I've finally relented. Hopefully he can make enough money to afford college since the expense of living here is eating up all our money.
He's been going to Kid's Only Acting School in Whiterock and he really enjoys it. What I like about the school is they are NOT pushy and seem to be very well respected. The teachers there have experience, years of it, and are really helpful.  Read more...

Here's what I learned about being a mom of a budding actor.

The first thing you need to know is that the parent has to be as committed to the career as the child. This isn't a 'fun activity' to do. It is a part time and, in some cases, a full time job for the parent. 

It's a real job during normal business hours, evenings, and weekends. You will find out about auditions approximately 12 - 24 hours earlier. He will have to leave school and if you had plans, you'll have to cancel them to get him to his audition.

When they film you have to be on set all day with your child. It's boring just sitting there all day waiting for his turn. 

You must like to drive. When your child gets an audition you must drive them there and it will take all of five minutes for them to do their thing and then you'll drive them home. In my case, that was an hour an a half of driving, 20 - 30 minutes of waiting, and 5 minutes for his audition. 

Don't forget the investment because acting classes are not cheap and they need to be schools recognized by Casting Agents, not some community centre group. 

The competition is fierce. There are fewer boys than girls trying to gain a foothold in the film industry, however, you will still need to go to lots of auditions to book a commercial and if you're lucky a TV show or movie. 

Your child must prep, which means no matter the role, you can't just show up. That means homework for both of you. 

The good news. 

An audition is a job interview and the skills your boy will learn auditioning can be valuable for the work force. Boys need to stand up in front of adults they don't know and convince them that he is the right person for the part. 

It's a real job and he can put it on his resume. When my son started looking for a regular part time job his resume had real work experience. 

He will learn about rejection. My son auditioned for role after role before he finally booked a commercial. Once he booked a TV role, then the whole project was shelved before it even got started. My son heard no, faced disappointment, and kept going. 

If your son books a commercial or a part in a series or movie he will learn what it means to work in the real world. He'll have to show up even if he doesn't feel like it. This isn't a game, it's the real world where money is being spent and they expect children to be as professional as their adult counterparts.


My son's child acting career ended when I went back to work. He's a teenager now and can get to auditions on his own, but he has school, friends, a girlfriend, guitar, and a part time apprenticeship. No time for auditions.

If he goes back it will be as an adult because I'm not driving anymore.

Shannon Peel is the author of THIRTEEN and is currently working on Book 2 in the series about a boy, his mom, a cop, and an invading army. She has brought war to a North American town to answer the question, what if it happened here?

Click to go to her website.