cover image Teenagers 101: What a Top Teacher Wishes You Knew About Helping Your Kid Succeed

Teenagers 101: What a Top Teacher Wishes You Knew About Helping Your Kid Succeed

Rebecca Deurlein. Amacom, $16 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-8144-3465-9

This manual for parents of high school students provides a no-nonsense guide for preparing teens for independence, whether at college or in the workforce. Deurlein is a longtime teacher with two grown children and a doctorate in educational leadership, so she has dealt with this issue from all sides. The breadth of topics covered is impressive, ranging from the basics, like motivation and self-esteem, to concepts that rarely appear in other parenting works, like getting the most from parent-teacher conferences and the importance of dress and manners. Deurlein tackles both ends of the academic spectrum, suggesting that many teens benefit from the “positive peer pressure” and the challenge of an AP course in one chapter and then, in the next, saying straight out that “college isn’t for everyone.” Throughout, she reminds readers that even members of the “everyone-gets-a-trophy” generation must be allowed to stumble, “deal with the consequences,” and learn that, “as much as we want something, we don’t always get it.” Armed with Deurlein’s tips, any parent should be able to give his or her teen something much better than another trophy: the self-reliance and work ethic necessary to take the first few steps into adulthood. [em](Nov.) [/em]