Delightful Discoveries for Gift Givers with Great Taste
With graduation season here, you may have a special young person in your life who is taking a step forward. Whether you need a middle school graduation gift, a high school graduation gift, or a college graduation gift, selecting something just right can be tricky. And who wants to have to resort to a gift card (again) as a graduation gift?
A book might not be the first idea that comes to you, but this one is perfection. Charles McEnerney and Adam Larson strike gold with Dear Graduate, an eye-catching hardcover that takes a fresh approach to the milestone that is graduation. Traditionally, kids have been asked, usually over and over by different people, “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?” (Almost a futile question in modern times, with job titles being born and morphing and dying even as I write this.) Add to that the pressure to excel, achieve the highest SAT scores, and participate in a slew of extracurriculars to impress colleges, and insecurities fueled by social media and growing up these days can be a stress fest. This book acknowledges what today’s graduates are dealing with, and approaches this big moment with a zero-pressure approach. The questions it asks emphasizes a wide open future with many possibilities. It brings to light ways to have a happy and fulfilling life on your own terms and in your own time. It makes the reader stop, think, and slow down, realizing, quite possibly for the very first time, that if you trust yourself, the right path will appear. It may not be the exact career you have in mind or what your parents or friends hoped you’d do, and that’s more than OK. There’s even a blank front page where you can write a personal message.
It’s a bit like a modern version of the Suess classic Oh the Places You’ll Go. It can be read in just a few minutes, which, for better or worse, is ideal for the shorter attention spans of those in their teens and early 20s. It’s personal and thought-provoking enough to be a meaningful present for a son, daughter, niece, or nephew. Yet the price makes it ideal for the graduate you want to “get a little something for,” maybe the child of a friend or neighbor. I wish I’d had this book when I graduated high school. It’s a visually stunning and uplifting little volume.
