Buddha in Your Backpack: Everyday Buddhism for Teens Book

Buddha in Your Backpack is a lively description of Buddhism that is relevant and engaging for teens (and those outside their teens). Franz Metcalf tells the story of Buddhism and how it may both be relevant for teens and make their lives better. He does this without dumbing down Buddhism.

In many ways Buddha is more accessible than many books on spirituality. It is down-to-earth, includes strong examples, perceives the issues teens face well and responds nonjudgmentally. Each of these things make Buddha an enjoyable and useful read. It is, though, is in some ways three or four very short books: Book 1: a history of Buddhism and a description of Buddhism; Book 2: applications of Buddhism to a teen's life; and Book 3: a description of how to meditate and a grab bag of strategies to enrich one's spiritual practice. I especially liked the latter part of Book 1 and all of Book 2. That it tries to accomplish all of these goals - without strong transitions - in 240 pages is frustrating.

But then, I'm not the target audience, neither in terms of age or knowledge of Buddhism. I have given Buddha to others who are either at a beginning stage in their practice or a teenager struggling with the tasks of being a teenager. They have responded very well to it - as I did when I first read Buddha in Your Backpack about ten years ago.

As a side note, Metcalf has three other books that appear to apply Buddhist ideas to everyday issues: What Would Buddha Do? 101 Answers to Life's Daily Dilemmas; Being Buddha at Work: 108 Ancient Truths on Change, Stress, Money, and Success; and Just Add Buddha! Quick Buddhist Solutions for Hellish Bosses, Traffic Jams, Stubborn Spouses, and Other Annoyances of Everyday Life. If you are not an adolescent or if you have more adult issues that you'd like to consider from a Buddhist approach, consider these books.