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Jan 12, 2012Cecilturtle rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Wow! I have rarely seen such inept advice in my long reading career! Wolf's book can be divided into two aspects: the descriptive in which he does a good job of analyzing and describing behaviours, giving insight into common situations; and the prescriptive in which he gives some of the most terrible advice I've come across. The lack of originality in his approach is stunning: under the topic of nagging, he concludes "you are stuck with nagging"; under the topic of procrastination, he recommends nagging until the teen gets up and concludes "it is the only way". The chapter under sexual education is ridiculous (no, Dr Wolf, many STDs besides AIDS are not fully curable and can be caught without even actual intercourse) and I just about fell off my chair when I read about drugs that "the street wisdom" of peers (...) is not to be scoffed at. It can be wrong but at times its information can be more accurate than the adult view." Personally, I'd rather have my teen get her information from a valid source... There is no discussion of coaching, negotiation, distancing or little tricks like writing notes and letters to keep the lines of communication open... it's a glib little book full of useless pat advice with tongue-in-cheek dialogue - none of which is helpful since it's all negative. This is a no go - there are so many other sources that so much better!