"The French have a name for the uniquely hellish years between elementary school and high school: "l'�age ingrat" or "The Ugly Age." Characterized by a perfect storm of developmental changes-physical, psychological, and social-the middle-school years are a time of great distress for parents and children alike, marked by hurt, isolation, exclusion, competition, anxiety, and often outright cruelty. Some of this is inevitable; there are intrinsic challenges...

"In teenagers, powerful emotions are the rule, not the exception. Unfortunately, many of today's parents now regard their teens' negative feelings as disruptive, dangerous, or diagnosable, thanks to the rise of the wellness industry and the widespread use of psychotropic drugs. To make matters worse, the global pandemic, academic pressure, social media stress, and a bleak environmental future have left today's teenagers feeling overwhelmed. Parents...

""My daughter used to be so wonderful. Now I can barely stand her and she won't tell me anything. How can I find out what's going on?" "There's a clique in my daughter's grade that's making her life miserable. She doesn't want to go to school anymore. Her own supposed friends are turning on her, and she's too afraid to do anything. What can I do?" Welcome to the wonderful world of your daughter's adolescence. A world in which she comes to school one...

A mother and her daughter are always fighting and screaming at each other. Each thinks that the other has it so easy. Then, thanks to a magical fortune cookie, they switch personalities and bodies and discover each other's problems and complications. And they end up gaining a little respect for each other's point of view. But they need to be changed back by Saturday, because the mother is getting married!

Fifteen-year-old Mira, alone in a basement apartment with a strange, controlling mother, has only her nature books and animal sketches, until she meets Cath and finds her first friend.

The most trying times in a child's life are during pre-teen and teen years. Most parents and teachers may be ill equipped to deal effectively with adolescents. They are not prepared for the remarkable changes that occur. The physical changes are most noticeable, but the intellectual, social and emotional changes can confound us. The ideas cover preparing for adolescence, the reality of confronting puberty, the family unit, and how to help teens confront...