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My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey Through The Thicket Of Adolescence (2000)

by Lauren Kessler(Favorite Author)

3.55 of 5 Votes: 2

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English

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review 1: I wasn't sure what to expect from this book once I started reading it. Thankfully, Lauren Kessler has a fantastic conversational style of writing and I was hooked immediately. My daughter is 10, a soon-to-be-tween. I, too, have struggled with finding adequate ways to connect with her through the changes she is experiencing. This book has given me a lot of insight, and a lot of hope that I can survive through my daughter's teen years without losing my mind or our relationship along the way.
review 2: This book was so painful to read. The chapter on the science of the teen brain was very interesting, but the rest of the book was an exercise in frustration. The author spends half her time bemoaning her teen's bad behavior, and the other half enabling it. She bem... moreoans the fact her child didn't use traditional toys, or read books, but allows her unlimited and unsupervised computer time and video games. what can a mother do, she wails, when her daughter brings home Cs after spending hours on the computer with video games and chat rooms. She sets up rules for her daughter such as no Internet use after misuse, but then cheerfully acknowledges she is aware her daughter is breaking this rule. She intervenes to reduce a punishment at camp, while she admits her daughter's behavior was out of bounds and dangerous. Although she often talks about how she desperately wanted privacy from her mother, she reads her daughter's journal and eavesdrops on conversations with her friends. She described how hurt she is when her daughter is rude to her, but tolerates and almost encourages such behavior, choosing to view it as "strong girl behavior" rather than the unacceptable behavior it actually is. Having had two kids (one girl, one boy) go through the teen years, I know you don't to accept or validate every rude thing that flies out of a child's mouth. She compares her daughter's behavior to her sons, and concludes that you simply have to accept bad behavior from a teen girl, behavior that she is the first to say she wouldn't have accepted from her sons. I found the fact that she shadowed her daughter at school strange and intrusive to the girl's life. She reasons that it is research for the book, but admits she wants to find out details about her daughter's life. My conclusion: Because she set such different standards for her sons and her daughter, she shouldn't be surprised they behave differently. She is oddly enough, too permissive but far too intrusive at the same time, but can't see that. Very disappointing read. less

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