Get Out of My Life, But First Take Me and Alex into Town: A Parents Guide to the New Teenager
Reassuring, very funny and spot-on -- Michelle Hanson, author of Treasure the Teenage Terror A handbook for parents on the front line. Herald (Glasgow) Funny, sound, and compassionate, Get Out of My Life will truly help you talk with your kids and not get mad -- Beth Winship Boston Globe Get Out of My Life has Spock's common sense, the insight of Freud, and the wit of Bombeck. I welcome this book. -- Dorothy Zeiser, Ph.D., Chairman, Department of Child Study Wolf, a clinical psychologist who works with adolescents (Why Did You Have to Get a Divorce? And When Can I Get a Hamster?), clearly has a feel for both the angst of young people who must deal with an evermore complex world and the difficulties parents face when a cooperative loving child morphs into a teenager who lies, talks back and avoids parental company. Humorous and insightful, Wolf describes what is, rather than what mothers and fathers of rebellious and thoughtless adolescents wish would be. He is forthright in stating that "you do not win the battle for control with teenagers... usually the best you get is imperfect control." Despite the best efforts of parents, today's adolescents frequently drink, experiment with drugs and are sexually active. According to the author, however, it is still important to have rules even though a teenager may break them. If parents clearly state their expectations of behavior and restate them when a teen disobeys, their son or daughter will, to some extent, internalize the rules and abide by them sometimes. In addition to providing excellent advice on particular situations, including divorce, school problems and stepparenting, he makes the often obnoxious manner in which teens communicate with their parents understandable as a rite of passage that they will eventually outgrow. Publishers Weekly [A] wise and comforting classic. -- Patrick O'Neill The Oregonian A book that friends with adolescents have sworn is their survival bible ... One friend told me, 'I swear, it's like he was sitting in my kitchen writing down our exact words.' The dialogue and analysis are completely on-target and so full of sense ... Wolf's tone is playful, astute, and made me scurry to find his [other] book[s]. The Chapel Hill News