Review by Booklist Review
Three new books offer insight and suggestions on bridging the parent-child generation gap on both age-old and brand-new problems. Bempechat, an educational researcher, examines diverging attitudes about schools: to wit, a backlash against competitiveness and pressure at the same time that there is growing concern about underachievement, particularly in math and science. She looks at the troubling trend among young people to view academic achievement as uncool, and she aims to help parents examine what influences their children's development and how social and cultural forces affect their attitudes about education. She provides suggestions on how parents can support education and blend schoolwork and homework with other aspects of children's lives. "The Talk" used to refer to sex education at home. Cappello expands the number of talks to 10 and focuses on violence, which is much more in the headlines in connection with teens and schools today. The chapters focus on different aspects of violence and how children can avoid it. Cappello aims to help children to clarify their values and parents to begin much-needed dialogue. The text is, at times, heavily scriptlike, but it includes good suggestions on how to broach this vital subject. Panzarine, a nurse specializing in adolescent health, provides a frank look at the emotional and physical changes adolescents go through and how parents may help 11-to 14-year-old children grow and mature. In question-and-answer format, she examines the increased dangers to today's young teens from the Internet, more sexually explicit entertainment, increased stress and pressure on young people, and normal tensions between parents and adolescents. --Vanessa Bush
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
