Honest, teen-friendly advice from trusted sources.
America’s favorite doctors Roizen and Oz (You: Having a Baby, 2010, etc.) answer teens’ health and life questions with friendly, nonjudgmental guidance.
Roizen, founder of RealAge.com, and Oz, Emmy Award winning host of The Dr. Oz Show, offer straightforward information on numerous topics important to teens. The good doctors weigh in on simple skin care, PMS and stress management, as well as weightier issues such as depression, addiction, STIs, the science of sex and how to effectively and safely use birth control. The authors encourage good decision making through basic biological facts—pierced tongues are bad for teeth, tattoos should be applied hygienically, etc.—but the voice does not nag, and autonomy of choice is respected. While teens may not know that accidents are the major cause of death and serious injury for their age group, they can learn to avoid risky behavior with exercises like delayed gratification, which trains the adolescent brain to become more logical. The biggest worries teens may have are whether they are normal and liked (or loved), yet they’ll likely be relieved to find answers to many embarrassing questions such as, “Why are my breasts uneven?” and “Is there anything I can do to increase my penis size?” The book’s tone is humorous in many places—e.g., there are some things that can’t be controlled, like the fact that “dad insists on wearing black socks with sneakers to mow the lawn.” Easy fitness advice and “25 Top Tips for Teens” are also included.
Honest, teen-friendly advice from trusted sources.Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7432-9258-0
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should...
Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, 2007, etc.) believes that genius can be learned if we pay attention and reject social conformity.
The author suggests that our emergence as a species with stereoscopic, frontal vision and sophisticated hand-eye coordination gave us an advantage over earlier humans and primates because it allowed us to contemplate a situation and ponder alternatives for action. This, along with the advantages conferred by mirror neurons, which allow us to intuit what others may be thinking, contributed to our ability to learn, pass on inventions to future generations and improve our problem-solving ability. Throughout most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers, and our brains are engineered accordingly. The author has a jaundiced view of our modern technological society, which, he writes, encourages quick, rash judgments. We fail to spend the time needed to develop thorough mastery of a subject. Greene writes that every human is “born unique,” with specific potential that we can develop if we listen to our inner voice. He offers many interesting but tendentious examples to illustrate his theory, including Einstein, Darwin, Mozart and Temple Grandin. In the case of Darwin, Greene ignores the formative intellectual influences that shaped his thought, including the discovery of geological evolution with which he was familiar before his famous voyage. The author uses Grandin's struggle to overcome autistic social handicaps as a model for the necessity for everyone to create a deceptive social mask.
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should beware of the author's quirky, sometimes misleading brush-stroke characterizations.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-02496-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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