Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children
by By Thompson, Michael, Grace, Catherine ONeill, and Cohen, Lawrence J., Ph.D.
Category: Family & Relationships , Parenting , General

"With uncommon sensitivity and intelligence... [this] book offers parents a window into their kids' often tumultuous relationships with classmates." - TimeFriends broaden our children’s horizons, share their joys and secrets, and accompany   them on their journeys into ever wider worlds. But friends can also gossip and betray,   tease and exclude. Children can cause untold suffering, not only for their peers   but for parents as well. In this wise and insightful book, psychologist Michael Thompson,   Ph.D., and children’s book author Catherine O’Neill Grace, illuminate the crucial   and often hidden role that friendship plays in the lives of children from birth through   adolescence. Drawing on fascinating new research as well as their own extensive   experience in schools, Thompson and Grace demonstrate that children’s friendships   begin early–in infancy–and run exceptionally deep in intensity and loyalty. As children   grow, their friendships become more complex and  layered but also more emotionally   fraught, marked by both extraordinary intimacy and bewildering cruelty. As parents,   we watch, and often live through vicariously, the tumult that our children experience   as they encounter the “cool” crowd, shifting alliances, bullies, and disloyal best   friends. Best Friends, Worst Enemies brings to life the drama of childhood relationships,   guiding parents to a deeper understanding of the motives and meanings of social behavior.   Here you will find penetrating discussions of the difference between friendship and   popularity, how boys and girls deal in unique ways with intimacy and commitment,   whether all kids need a best friend, why cliques form and what you can do about them. Filled with anecdotes that ring amazingly true to life, Best Friends, Worst Enemies probes the magic and the heartbreak that all children experience with their friends.   Parents, teachers, counselors–indeed anyone who cares about children–will find this   an eye-opening and wonderfully affirming book."Relevant and compelling... Parents will be wiser for reading." - The Boston Globe"The stories in this book come from many perspectives - those of therapists, educators, and parents. The wise, kind authors give us a fresh and cogent analysis of this critically important issue." - Mary Pipher, Ph.D., author of Reviving Ophelia