- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Riverhead Trade; Reissue edition (Jan 11 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1573228753
- ISBN-13: 978-1573228756
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 376 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #596,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
If you're someone who opens a book to read the last chapter first, you won't be disappointed by what you find in Our Last Best Shot: Guiding Our Children Through Early Adolescence. The final chapter, "Some Concluding Thoughts," offers sharp insights into the early adolescent years. "Early adolescence is partly about loss," writes author Laura Sessions Stepp. "Parents lose their children's unquestioning adoration; kids lose their innocence, and sometimes their faith in adults." She adds observations on a wide variety of topics--communication, respect, responsibility, and the influence of other adults--that can be used as a road map for parents trying to help their children navigate these years with success.
If you're looking for a book based solely on academic research and written by an expert, this one may not satisfy. However, Sessions Stepp, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Washington Post, uses her keen observation and interviewing skills to uncover the world of today's young adolescents. After two years of conducting numerous in-depth interviews and extensive research into current developmental theory, she seamlessly combines the two in a book that is both engaging and authoritative. One of the most important points Stepp makes is in regard to the rapidity of growth--emotional, physical, and intellectual--that young adolescents undergo. She writes of recent research, "I was fascinated to be told that adolescence is a time of growth and change rivaling infancy in its speed and accomplishments." This relatively recent revelation gives an urgency to her argument that adolescence is "our last best shot" at helping kids grow into successful adults. Considering the value and likeability of this often overlooked age group, Stepp's wisdom and insights will benefit anyone who cares about and works with young adolescents. Our Last Best Shot is an opportunity to look at today's teens in a new light and see futures filled with hope and possibility. --Virginia Smyth --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In the recent tradition of Reviving Ophelia and Raising Cain, Stepp offers an extraordinary look into the lives of children aged 10-15, with a bounty of commonsense advice on how to ensure that they blossom and thrive during the crucial prelude to adulthood. Stepp, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Washington Post, presents 12 case studies of actual boys and girls, along with their families, friends and teachers, with whom she lived over the course of a year. Coming from a variety of backgroundsAincluding urban Los Angeles, Durham, N.C., and the small farming community of Ulysses, Kans.Athese children are all trying to figure out answers to such questions as: "What kind of person am I?"; "What am I learning?"; "How do I fit in with friends?"; and "How can I create distance from adults yet remain connected to them?" Drawing on unlimited access to these somewhat troubled yet likeable kids, Stepp writes of their lives with remarkable understanding and compassion, vividly reporting on, for example, Chip's marijuana deal, Jack's joy in single-handedly constructing a birdhouse when left alone one day and Libby's frank conversation about oral sex with her girlfriends at the mall. These encounters illustrate the many valuable lessons Stepp offers parents: give kids responsibility, be aware of their friends, give them space, manage your fears, stay engaged. Agent, ICM. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
It is 8:15 on a September morning in Ulysses, Kansas, and Sally Gollhoffers wastes no time starting her sixth-grade keyboarding class. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
It is 8:15 on a September morning in Ulysses, Kansas, and Sally Gollhoffers wastes no time starting her sixth-grade keyboarding class. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!! Our kids are now perfect!!,
By Eric T. Warren, M.D. (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Our Last Best Shot: Guiding our Children Through Early Adolescence (Paperback)
I cannot tell you how much this book changed our lives. Before reading this, our children, particularly our little Amber, were out of control. Constant calls from the school and their friends' parents led to many a sleepless night for me and my husband.But now....wow!! Our lives are light years from where we were just a few months ago. Obedience, discipline, and undying love and devotion now guide our children's every step. Laura Stepp is a truly gifted in articulating the needs of today's adolescents.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy engrossing reading,
By
This review is from: Our Last Best Shot: Guiding our Children Through Early Adolescence (Paperback)
While waiting for clients to show up to see a house, I picked up this book and started reading. Having a new middle schooler, I found that I could not put this down because I could see him in so many of the situations. As soon as I got home, I went on-line and ordered it right away. I will be reading every page of this book. Very engrossing. You feel that you know each individual as you read about them. Also easy reading. As the mother of a three year old, I have many interuptions and it is nice to have a book that can be read in short spurts. This is a must read for anyone with children entering into those adolescent years!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really Excellent Book,
By
This review is from: Our Last Best Shot: Guiding our Children Through Early Adolescence (Paperback)
I felt like I was reading "MY Last Best Shot" as I read through this book. I have three sons, ages 10, 12, & 13, and this book was lent to me by my middle son's teacher. I liked it so much I bought my own copy. Every chapter opened my eyes to something else I didn't know about or have not been doing with my sons. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with children near or at the pre-teen age level, particularly parents who find most parenting books boring, patronizing or unrealistic.
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