The Teen Money Manual

July 1, 2014

Gr 6 Up-This solid book explains the choices teens can make now that will impact their future credit and financial life. It is well organized into four sections: earning, saving, spending, and protecting. Each one has three chapters that offer informative options and practical advice. The section on earning covers making money, from getting a job and becoming an entrepreneur to deciphering one's paycheck. The part about saving discusses options, investing, time horizon, risk, and diversification. Spending discusses budgeting, expenses, borrowing, credit cards, paying for college, figuring costs of college, and tools for financial aid. Protecting your property looks at different types of insurance, as well as how to protect against identity theft and what readers should do if they think their identity has been stolen. Up-to-date tips and resources include statistics, worksheets, sample documents, websites, and apps. Side bars share financial experiences of young entrepreneurs, investors, and others. The book is similar in scope to Tamara Orr's Money Matters (Mitchell Lane, 2010), which covers economy, budgeting, savings, earning money, and stock-market investing tips. This handy manual teaches teens about financial literacy in a helpful, casual tone. Clear and accessible explanations will help readers to build a "rock solid financial future."-June Shimonishi, Torrance Public Library, CA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2014
Just about anything teens would want to know about money and finance but didn't know enough to ask.McGuire first makes the often intimidating world of finance-not generally a topic on a teen's must-read list-approachable by separating the book into four tidy subsections: Earning, Saving, Spending and Protecting. She makes it further accessible by using concrete examples instead of abstractions. She discusses the ins and outs of starting a business, with two entrepreneurial teens describing how they acquired their startup capital and how they juggled their businesses with their school schedules. Oftentimes, McGuire departs from giving purely financial advice and provides counsel that sounds like it comes from a mentor or parent. "Your number one job as a teen is to get good grades, gain experiences from school and community activities, and prepare for higher education." She advises teens on appropriate dress for an interview-"When in doubt, dress up, not down"-and how to discriminate between wants and needs. She also covers banking and investing, saving for the near and far future, and purchasing car and property insurance. There are scads of helpful websites, as well as a sample resume, budget and W-2 form. Colorful photos and charts and eye-catching graphics keep the pages turning.A solid, thoroughly readable guide. (Nonfiction. 12-18)

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September 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 This accessible guide covers traditional aspects of personal finance in an engaging, breezy manner, packing a tremendous amount of useful information into brief chapters set off by illustrations, charts, graphs, and checklists. Aimed primarily at college-bound teens, the content covers money-management basics: job hunting, entrepreneurship, saving and investing, spending and borrowing, paying for college, and asset protection (insurance and guarding against identity theft). Throughout, readers receive solid advice: stay in school, consider unpaid internships and volunteer work, plan, budget, and start saving now. Realistic case scenarios provide additional tips. The information is up-to-date and reflects current realities, with references to our present economy, in which people hold down multiple part-time jobs. Also included are helpful sites; apps (e.g., mint.org, Piggy Mojo); and social-media initiatives, including peer-to-peer lending and crowd-funding ventures. This practical manual will supplement standard textbooks and complement other popular guides, such as Tamsen Butler's The Complete Guide to Personal Finance for Teenagers and College Students (2010). Consider this for browsers, researchers, and aspiring tycoons alike.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)