Tim Wright, co-host of our Wonder of Parenting Podcast, has provided today’s guest blog post.   His newest young adult novel, “The Adventures of Toby Baxter–Book 2: Riverhome for the Holidays–has just been published.  We hope you enjoy this blog post about the book, and please keep Tim’s novels in mind as holiday gifts for middle schoolers…and adults who like to read a fun adventure!

Now here’s more from Tim.

“Ah, young Toby,” the giant said. “A quest isn’t just about going somewhere or doing something. It’s also about becoming.”

 “Becoming what?”

 “A HERO, of course.”

 The giant reached his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a small box.

 “Here. This is for you, Toby.”

 Toby opened it. It was a compass.

 “Is this the same compass I used last time?” Toby asked.

 “Look more closely.”

 Toby noticed the coordinates were different. Instead of H-E-R-O, this compass read: W-I-S-E.

 “WISE?”

 “Yes, Toby, Part of the quest to become a HERO is to become WISE. Wisdom is an essential part of being a HERO. And soon, it will be the gift that will save RiverHome.”

 (Excerpted from The Adventures of Toby Baxter—Book 2: RiverHome for the Holidays, by Tim Wright.)

Back in 2015, 19-year-old Australian model Essena O’Neill made a stunning decision that reverberated throughout the vast social media empire. She had become a popular social media influencer and through her expanding social media platform she was able to attract sponsors, making her extremely wealthy.

Her “brand,” or image, was that of a young woman posting casual pictures from everyday life, showing herself to be a normal, everyday person.

But as her influence grew, she felt increasingly lost and lonely mainly because her brand was all a sham. It was all carefully constructed. She had no vision for who she was apart from that which she had curated. And she found it exhausting trying to keep up the charade; constantly wearing the mask and never being able to be herself or to be loved for who she really was.

So she decided to quit social media. To let go of all of her followers and the massive wealth her influencing brought her.

Before she dropped off of social media, however, she posted what appeared to be another casual selfie but with this post:

 Please like this photo. I put on makeup, curled my hair, tight dress, big uncomfortable jewelry… Took over 50 shots until I got one I thought you might like, then I edited this one selfie for ages on several apps—just so I could feel some social approval from you. THERE IS NOTHING REAL ABOUT THIS #celebrityconstruct

Four years later she attempted a comeback in part because she felt lost outside of social media—she still had no compelling vision for her life—and, in part because she missed how special she felt having people listen to her opinions.

Can you hear the cry behind that longing? This is a young woman screaming for someone to notice her; to listen to her; to see her; to love her. Without a vision for her life and for who she is, she, like so many of our kids, fights the battle to get noticed. But as she discovered, rooting a vision for her life in social media is exhausting, unrelenting, unforgiving, and graceless.

Research tells us that the “vision” social media embeds in our kids is leading to deeper levels of anxiety and depression—at alarming rates. This is especially true for our middle schoolers.

The sacred task for those of us raising boys and girls—parents, grandparents, coaches, educators, youth leaders—is to instill in them a vision of substance: something that roots their worth and value in what will hold them through the changing winds of adolescence and all the pressures they bring. That vision can include the character qualities we deem to be important, the values we want them to embrace, and an outlook on life that keeps them centered as they move through the destabilizing years of adolescence.

I’ve had the chance to work the Dr. Michael Gurian for over 17 years. In addition to our weekly Wonder of Parenting Podcast: A Brain-Science Approach to Parenting, we have created rites of passage experiences as tools to help adults instill in our kids a strong, healthy vision for their lives.

Having raised a daughter and a son, and now as a Grandpa of five, I know how important it is to impart a vision to our kids and how challenging it can be.

Stories can play an important role in shaping that vision; stories that take our kids on an imaginative quest of sorts that engages them with new ways of looking at their lives and their world.

A few years ago I decided to try my hand at writing a fantasy adventure, geared to middle-school students, that would draw them into a story about finding a vision for their lives.

In The Adventures of Toby Baxter—Book 1: The River Elf, the Giant, and the Closet, 13-year-old Toby Baxter is called to a new world to be a HERO. The problem is, he doesn’t feel like a hero. He doesn’t have any special super powers to be a hero. But like every boy and girl, along the way, he comes face-to-face with the questions: How will I use my power? What kind of man will I be? Guided by mentors, he wrestles with the vision for his life.

Now, with the newly released The Adventures of Toby Baxter—Book 2: RiverHome for the Holidays, readers are able to go deeper into Toby’s adventure, and deeper into a compelling vision for their lives as they learn, with Toby, what it means to be WISE:

Wonder: Be Curious!

Insight: Be Smart!

Service: Be Kind!

Endurance: Be Resilient!

Stories have the power to seep into our souls sideways with lessons and insights that can shape a healthy, dynamic vision in the lives of our sons and daughters.

If you’re looking for an engaging “tool” that can help you instill a WISE vision into your son or daughter, I hope you find Toby’s first two adventures (of seven) a great starting point as you read them together with the middle-schoolers in your life.

For the free book 1 Prequel: I.C.E. Call Toby Baxter, and the free book 2 Prequel: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and for a link to the two Toby Baxter books, go to www.TimWrightBooks.com