I was hoping to write a review after I was finished with the book, but I am finding it very difficult to read the book so I might as well just write why it is a difficult book to read.
The problems with teenage girls that the author talks about are disturbing and in some way I am glad that I am aware of them so hopefully with my daughters I will be better at spotting signs early. I, however, cannot help but wonder if the author's view of the world isn't completely skewed! She is, after all a therapist, and the girls she is seeing are the ones that have been brought into therapy. I don't think parents would take their kids to a psychotherapist unless the problems were severe, so a vast majority of girls she is interacting with have serious problems. The author talks about one teenage girl that she has seen outside therapy, I think her niece, who still seems 'normal' with a joy for life and then the author comments "I wonder how long this will last". In any case the world the author is talking is about does not seem like the world I live in. Somewhere she says that our perception of what constitutes family is all wrong because we think of family as mom staying home with kids and dad working. I was surprised to hear that because I know maybe one family like that, and know that in today's world that is an exception rather than the norm.
Secondly what I have read till now seems like a big rant against the culture and media - a lot of blame. There seems to be no structure to the book itself. The book is divided into chapters but I really see no difference between one chapter and the other. It is just one description after another of the same problem, and she has not presented any solutions yet, except maybe taking the kid to a therapist like herself.
So overall I am not finding the book enjoyable or useful, and doubt I will ever finish it because I have so many other interesting books to read.
Raising kids in a non-native environment while constantly worrying about striking the right balance.
3 comments:
I hated that book, too. It's not helpful in any way....there's too much negativity about the teen years.
I found that book riveting, for whatever that's worth. She does indeed get to making some suggestions for solutions, though if I remember right that's toward the very end of the book, and it is a very short section.
It could be a cultural thing to. Having spent my teen years in India, I couldn't really identify with most of the issues discussed in the book.
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