by Laura Sessions Stepp ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2000
A solid, intelligent addition to the child-development literature.
An eye-opening journey among a strange tribe: American adolescents.
Washington Post education writer Stepp considers young adolescents (ages 10 to 14) as distinct from older teenagers as infants are from kindergartners, although many popular books lump the two age groups together. Life is tough for these kids, she shows: not only are hormones kicking in to cause weird skin eruptions and weirder behavior, but most children at this tender age are muddling toward a sense of who they are, crushed by the forces of peer pressure and an educational establishment that has no idea what to do with them. Stepp examines children in three very different places (Los Angeles; Ulysses, Kansas; and Durham, North Carolina) to discover that they are much the same everywhere. Another discovery, she notes, is that children’s home lives today are generally a mess: “I went looking,” she writes, “for typical kids living in typical families and quickly learned that there is no such thing. The Ozzie and Harriet family really is a myth and has been for years.” Faced with a family structure in which one parent or another is largely absent, touched by violence, drugs, and crime, and confused by the biological changes they are undergoing, most of these children, Stepp suggests, turn out blissfully normal, all things considered, and despite the fact that they are so badly served by teaching methods that inhibit their socialization. (Schools would do well, Stepp advises, to consider European and Asian models of group problem-solving that foster teamwork and temper an already fierce atmosphere of competition.) Stepp, herself a mother, closes her book with helpful hints for parents on how to understand their children—which, more than anything else, involves taking the time to watch and listen.
A solid, intelligent addition to the child-development literature.Pub Date: July 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-57322-160-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Share your opinion of this book
by Jancee Dunn ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2017
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after...
Self-help advice and personal reflections on avoiding spousal fights while raising children.
Before her daughter was born, bestselling author Dunn (Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask, 2009, etc.) enjoyed steady work and a happy marriage. However, once she became a mother, there never seemed to be enough time, sleep, and especially help from her husband. Little irritations became monumental obstacles between them, which led to major battles. Consequently, they turned to expensive couples' therapy to help them regain some peace in life. In a combination of memoir and advice that can be found in most couples' therapy self-help books, Dunn provides an inside look at her own vexing issues and the solutions she and her husband used to prevent them from appearing in divorce court. They struggled with age-old battles fought between men and women—e.g., frequency of sex, who does more housework, who should get up with the child in the middle of the night, why women need to have a clean house, why men need more alone time, and many more. What Dunn learned via therapy, talks with other parents, and research was that there is no perfect solution to the many dynamics that surface once couples become parents. But by using time-tested techniques, she and her husband learned to listen, show empathy, and adjust so that their former status as a happy couple could safely and peacefully morph into a happy family. Readers familiar with Dunn's honest and humorous writing will appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at her own semi-messy family life, and those who need guidance through the rough spots can glean advice while being entertained—all without spending lots of money on couples’ therapy.
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after the birth of their child.Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-26710-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More by Jancee Dunn
BOOK REVIEW
by Jancee Dunn ; illustrated by Scott Nash
BOOK REVIEW
by Jancee Dunn ; illustrated by Scott Nash
BOOK REVIEW
by Cyndi Lauper with Jancee Dunn
by Tim O’Brien ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2019
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.
Ruminations and reminiscences of an author—now in his 70s—about fatherhood, writing, and death.
O’Brien (July, July, 2002, etc.), who achieved considerable literary fame with both Going After Cacciato (1978) and The Things They Carried (1990), returns with an eclectic assembly of pieces that grow increasingly valedictory as the idea of mortality creeps in. (The title comes from the author’s uncertainty about his ability to assemble these pieces in a single volume.) He begins and ends with a letter: The initial one is to his first son (from 2003); the terminal one, to his two sons, both of whom are now teens (the present). Throughout the book, there are a number of recurring sections: “Home School” (lessons for his sons to accomplish), “The Magic Show” (about his long interest in magic), and “Pride” (about his feelings for his sons’ accomplishments). O’Brien also writes often about his own father. One literary figure emerges as almost a member of the family: Ernest Hemingway. The author loves Hemingway’s work (except when he doesn’t) and often gives his sons some of Papa’s most celebrated stories to read and think and write about. Near the end is a kind of stand-alone essay about Hemingway’s writings about war and death, which O’Brien realizes is Hemingway’s real subject. Other celebrated literary figures pop up in the text, including Elizabeth Bishop, Andrew Marvell, George Orwell, and Flannery O’Connor. Although O’Brien’s strong anti-war feelings are prominent throughout, his principal interest is fatherhood—specifically, at becoming a father later in his life and realizing that he will miss so much of his sons’ lives. He includes touching and amusing stories about his toddler sons, about the sadness he felt when his older son became a teen and began to distance himself, and about his anguish when his sons failed at something.
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-618-03970-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Tim O’Brien
BOOK REVIEW
by Tim O’Brien
BOOK REVIEW
by Tim O’Brien
BOOK REVIEW
by Tim O’Brien
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.