- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (Aug 3 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 034543594X
- ISBN-13: 978-0345435941
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.1 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 408 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #146,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Why do teenagers so often seem like a different species? Journalist Patricia Hersch gives a troubling answer in her fascinating, up-close-and-personal look at what it means to be a teen in today's American high schools. Rather than interviewing "high-risk" teens (those already swept up in a cycle of drug use, gang violence, or unintended pregnancy, for example), Hersch focuses her attention on "regular kids"--adolescents who are average achievers on academic and social levels. In light of this, A Tribe Apart is all the more startling to read: Hersch's investigative approach makes it impossible for parents to shrug off their responsibilities by saying "That's not my kid." This is your kid.
Hersch offers readers a fly-on-the-wall perspective as she spends three years hanging out with eight youths, submerging herself in their environment. They struggle with all the things you might remember or expect from the teen years: figuring out relationships, establishing friendships, determining what's cool and uncool, experiencing sexual attraction. But these teens--and, as Hersch asserts, the majority of teens in America today--have much, much more piled on their plates. Having been left to their own devices by a preoccupied, self-involved, and "hands-off" generation of parents, adolescents have had to figure out their own system of ethics, morals, and values, and rely on each other for advice on such profound topics as abuse, dysfunctional parents, and sex (with all its accompanying ramifications). Adolescents are indeed "a tribe apart," but not by choice--adult society abandons them long before they ever get the chance to rebel against it.
A wake-up call for all parents and teenagers, this essential book is also hopeful. Hersch urges us not to be afraid of teenagers--even if they have piercings and tattoos and strange hair--because what they really, truly want is a little guidance, attention, and love. --Brangien Davis --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
The "generation gap" of the 1960s has widened into a much deeper chasm in the 1990s, according to Hersch, former contributing editor to Psychology Today and the mother of three adolescents. This reflects no simple youthful rebellion but an extreme estrangement between adults and teenagers owing to the rise of dual careers, divorce, and violent social change. Part anthology, part soap opera, this work by participant-observer Hersch provides case studies of eight teens from her own suburb near Washington, DC. The study covers events from the seventh through the 12th grades (1992-95). These are "regular" kids, a group balanced for race, gender, and ethnicity, yet their flirtations with promiscuity, drugs, and suicidal behavior could and did turn some lives tragic. Lots of details are reported, many ultimately unverifiable. However, the essence of the short descriptive chapters rings true. A powerful sense that issues are more complex for today's youth is well conveyed. Timely, well written, even enthralling though suggesting few solutions to the problems raised, this book is highly recommended for public libraries and education collections.
-?Antoinette Brinkman, SW Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
-?Antoinette Brinkman, SW Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
My first morning of school, I was scared. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
My first morning of school, I was scared. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great,
By "deliciag" (Nevada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence (Paperback)
I thought this book was great. Very informative and I felt it was true to what goes on his children's lives. I had to read this in college about 6 years ago and I have recommended it to every parent I know, and they have had glowing reviews.
1.0 out of 5 stars
narrow, poorly written account of one community's youth,
By Michael Sutcliffe (Morristown, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence (Paperback)
I read this book as part of a survey of popular, current literature on adolescent psychology. I am a recent high school graduate (2003), and, frankly, find Ms. Hersh's supposedly subjective perspective syrupy and utterly false. Her students came from one small community, so how can she claim to be speaking for all of America's public school-educated teens? I atteneded a small, Catholic private school, perhaps that is why I disagree with her so much. Also, as evidenced by comments from other reviewers, she obviously didn't present a balanced view of her subjects. Her editors are also as fault, as is Hersh herself, for not having the sense to realize that these adolescents are ultimately responsible for their own destinies, and that they, then, are responsible for all the choices they make in life. Parents and their values, or lack thereof, may also play a part, but, ultimately, it is the teenager's choice whether to listen to society or not. I chose not to, and although that caused me to have very few friends, that didn't matter since I knew I was being true to what I knew was right in my heart. Our society needs to learn that social contacts are much less important than having a clearcut belief and value system. Without it, no matter how many friends you have to help solve problems won't make any difference, there is a good chance that the problem won't be solved correctly, or morally or logically.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Call to Arms,
By
This review is from: A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence (Paperback)
Patricia Hersch, author of A Tribe Apart, does a spectacular thing: she takes an honest and thoughtful look at today's youth. Rather than treat them as statistics, or worse, see them with fear, she is able to fall into their world, and later, to come out with real and fair assessments of the thoughts and feelings of adolescents. She does so without being condescending or cruel, and in doing so, gives those not among these youth, a means by which we can better understand these children, and, ultimately, take responsibility for our own role in their lives and experiences. In that light, Hersch shows that giving a child physical things, like a house, a car, and food, is not enough to help them achieve neither academically nor socially. Rather, in a world that seems committed to, or ignorant of, a lack of guidance being given to these children, these youth need adults that can give them perspective, and a sense of morality that is derived from something other than their own scared lives. As an interesting twist of fate, it takes Hersch's journey into the world of these teens to give us the perspective to see that, more than anything, these children need our perspective to gain a hold over their own lives.It seems as though nearly every time we hear about youth, it is to hear some terrifying statistic such as that 25% of 18 year olds have been sexually abused (p. 246). The unfortunate side effect of this is that we are constantly being thrown statistics that turn youth into monsters, not humans. It looks nothing at the cause of these problems, but rather alienates youth, so that parents and society can develop a misconception that their own actions have nothing to do with the current condition of youth. It works off the assumption that somehow these youth are inherently different, and that modern influences have nothing to do their transgressions. It is a shirking of responsibility, born from the very mentality that has led to these children being raised as clumsily as they are (p. 22); in the sixties there was a portion of society that adhered to concepts of morality based in lack of judgment, and full of contradiction. The fact of the matter is that these youth are no different than previous generations, except that the family and society they are being exposed to is different. It is therefore the responsibility of parents and society to realize their own faults, and support the youth that have for too long gone neglected. The beautiful thing about A Tribe Apart is that it doesn't rely on fear tactics, it doesn't disavow responsibility, but rather takes a look at today's "normal" kids, examines their feelings, and shows the means by which so many of our youth are reacting to society so violently.
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