Allie Sherlock is a 13 year old busker from Ireland. This video of her appearing on the Ellen Show last January was the third most watched YouTube video of 2018. As well as doing covers, Ally writes her own music. Even though she has signed a record deal with Ryan Tedder (formerly of One Republic) she still busks. BTW, her album is due out this February. 

Warning: this is pretty confronting but very powerful. Sexual assault is a terrible thing to happen to someone and it happens more than you realise. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1 in 6 (1.5 million) women and 1 in 9 (992,000) men were physically and/or sexually abused before the age of 15. But it doesn't have to destroy you or define you.

I have a confession to make - I love Australian Ninja Warrior.
Here are some life lessons from the 2018 series:

• Girls are just as capable as boys
• Never give up - plenty of contestants from the first series failed but they trained harder and tried again in 2018.
• Hard work pays off - all of the contestants trained a lot for the show
• Believe in yourself!

Caitlin Figueiredo is a young woman from Australia who has just been awarded a Queen's Young Leader's Award. Here are some of her achievements:

• Finalist in the Young Australian of the Year 2018
• Founded the World Vision's youth organisation, VGen ACT
• Co-founded the Peshawan School of Peace
• Has spoken to government and the UN about bullying and violence against children
• Organised the world's largest Girls Takeover Program with the Australian Federal Parliament to increase the representation of women in government and leadership
• Founded Jasiri Australia which helps victims of violence.

What a woman! You can read more at Her Canberra and Jasiri.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. At first I was skeptical as to what life advice a 13 year old could offer, but this book is full of good advice, personal stories, recipes, crafts and photos. Mackenzie Ziegler who is a singer, used to be on Dance Moms with her older sister Maddie (who tours with Sia). This book is perfect for tweens and teens and I highly recommend it. I'm even going to try some of the crafts.