 Hello, I am trying to get better at doing book reviews, so you have another one today. I have, as you know, a lot of books in colour order and I'm going to try and highlight the ones that I really like for you because people ask me all the time for recommendations and so yeah, I'm going to do lots of these and they don't, you know, watch them if you want to, not if you don't, but this one, watch. This one's a bit different because this is a review of the book Dear Warriors by Susan Susan, I don't know how to say your name. We talk on Twitter like all the time, I don't know how to say your name, Baumgartner Baumgartner, I feel like I'm going to make it sound rude. So Susan kindly sent me a review copy of her book and it is different than other books that I would often review I guess because so much of what I do has a really direct kind of mental health or emotional well-being or otherwise slightly more tenuous PSHE, personal social health and economic education link and this one is about type 1 diabetes. However, however, if you or anyone you know is affected by type 1 diabetes or T1D then you will know that kind of emotional health and well-being is very, very kind of tied in with this diagnosis. So I'm not personally affected but I have known many people who are and I've also come across in my professional work when researching and such often how young people who have diabetes are more vulnerable to many of the issues that I have an interest in. So in particular, self-harm and eating disorders and they can take particular kind of variations for people with diabetes. I'm not going to go into that all today, that's another day but essentially people who have diabetes, particularly as they go through adolescence, they can be at a time when they find it hard to identify with their peers at a time when we maybe want to be like everyone else and that can make it really difficult and they can struggle with our identity, the illness makes them feel different and yeah, it's not good. So it can cause issues. So yeah, I'm interested in diabetes and this journal, so it's a memoir and guided journal by Susan, this kind of offers some, what's the word I'm looking for? Respite, company, solidarity, I don't know, there's lots of different words you could use but it's nice, it's nice for someone who is suffering with diabetes. Now it's not aimed as far as I'm aware at any particular age group, it's really for anyone who has a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and it is designed as a companion for you and your illness. Now Susan, it's titled a memoir and guided journal because Susan's given a lot of herself in this journal, so Susan has T1D and she talks about her own experiences of it but she also has, I think, let me check about, yeah, 12 guest artists who also have their lives touched by this illness and she looks at what life is like for them as well as her. Now the journal is partly about you learning about other people's experiences and it's partly about you sharing your own. So there is like a lot of text and some images as well but there's also lots of space for you to put your own. So I'm looking now at page 74, I'll try and get the JPEGs and put them here. So on page 74 we've got Mike Natter who is 33 and was diagnosed at 9 and he has done a self-portrait in diabetic test strips which gives you an example of some of the kinds of interesting things that are in here but then alongside that we have some writing by Mike about his experience of his illness and his experience with his doctors as well and then Susan, Susan reflects on what Mike Natter has to say, Doctor Natter I should say and she says of him, I can picture all the artists in this book using their hands to create their works, sketching, colouring, erasing, painting, orchestrating, Doctor Natter did so in a way that reminds us of all those hands burdens, our burdens and this book is I think one of the nicest things about it is that I think it would make you feel less alone in your illness if this was something you were either it was new to you, the diagnosis or it was something that you were struggling with at the moment because of issues around sort of your identity or changing or those sorts of things and I think you would feel less alone and you would feel perhaps some pride in the community of which you are part because you'd see all these other people who are like you but actually so diverse so you share this one thing that you battle together but that actually you come from so many different walks of life and this can affect anyone and that this isn't something to be ashamed of but actually the way in which you manage it every day is something that can mark you out mark you out yeah in a good way and that you're the way that you cope and manage with this is something to be proud of and rather than being ashamed of having this I guess affliction I don't even know what the right word is but you know there are always more than one way to look at things and I guess Susan encourages us to look at type 1 diabetes with as positive a lens as possible at the same time the other nice thing about this journal is it does allow us to work through like the whole gamut of emotions and all feelings are valid here so there are you know lots of positives but at the same time we explore some of the more difficult feelings too and as I said there's loads and loads of opportunities for people to share their own drawings and journal entries and stuff as well so you sort of make it your own as you go through so you see an example here on pages 84 to 85 so you get asked to list three tools that help you reach and maintain your healthy weight and who are the warriors you can rely on to help you with that and then you've got space for your art and this is a theme throughout so you get prompted with questions which help you to think about what's the support you can draw on what you're trying to do here and what will help you to do that and what are your hopes and then space to kind of both draw and write that which is I think really cool so it's a real labor of love I think and I know when Susan was putting this together it was not a quick process I was sort of aware of this project as it was ongoing and I was really interested in the project and Susan did share some of the journey as she was doing it and it was something in which she took great pride and that really shows you know it's I think it's a really beautiful book and it's one I would recommend if you or someone you know has diabetes I think it's interesting it's thought provoking it's actually positive and it's good in terms of actually helping you to think about the positive steps you can take as well it's quite good in terms of actually building some skills and ideas to and building a network and that kind of thing you could if you were working with a young person or supporting young person as a parent or a teacher or a counselor or something you could work through some of the ideas in here together and that could be quite a positive and affirming exercise and quite practical too so yeah I would recommend it I'll put links below so I always like to share my three favorite things and I think my very favorite thing actually is the author Susan who has been so generous and giving of herself in this book you can feel her throughout the book she feels like this guiding hand and if you felt completely alone otherwise in your illness I think you would feel once you started engaging with this journal particularly if you really you know really did engage with it you you took time to to write or draw in here I think you would feel that Susan was with you and actually I know her well enough not well enough to know how to say her surname but well enough online and many of my most meaningful relationships are entirely online but I know her well enough to know that actually if someone did reach out to her online and I'll put her Twitter handle in the link below as well yeah if someone reading this did reach out that she would literally be standing side by side with them too she's really kind really giving and so my favorite thing yeah is that is the author and how giving of herself she is my second favorite thing yeah so it kind of feels like it's it's for everyone and there's a whole range of different stuff in here and different tastes as well so that's really nice it's really broad what she's managed to bring together in a relatively small book bearing in mind there's lots of space for journaling in here yeah the breadth of what's included is impressive and then finally I really like the fact that it is this interesting approach of part memoir and part journal so it is like you're reading and learning and feeling like you're understanding other people's journeys but at the same time you are adding to your own story and your own journey and you're making this book your own each time you open it and writing it or drawing it and I like that and I I love books that invite you to make them your own and this is so much more than just a journal and yeah I love that that that mixture of memoir and journal because it also makes it easier I think to do the journaling aspects because you've been sort of led by all these other voices which are included in the story here too they've kind of guided you a little bit and and yeah kind of yeah the tail lights in front of you that you can follow so yeah I would recommend it I think if you if you have diabetes or you know someone who does I think this is a book they would have really appreciate yeah so I would recommend it and thank you so much to Susan for sending me a copy and also really a huge thank you for putting so much of yourself into this book I think it will make a huge difference to all you T1D warriors out there okay