A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence
Lizzie comes home from school, walking down the long access road from the street where the bus drops her off. She makes her way to the side door of our house. She’s wearing (for the fourth day in a row) a particularly unflattering pair of brown corduroy jeans that sag at the knees and butt, a gray “Oregon Girls Rock” t-shirt (three days for that item) and a pair of blown-out Sketchers. On her back is twenty-pound pack that includes, among other things, several dozen broken pencils, two or three sack lunches that she thinks I don’t know she hasn’t eaten and a science book so heavy it makes you wonder if there really is that much science a seventh grader needs to know. She drops everything on the floor of the foyer, kicks off her shoes and starts to walk down the hall past my writing room. She knows I’m in there. I’m always in there, but she doesn’t stop.
With the keen eye of a reporter, the deep curiosity of an anthropologist and the (often wounded) heart of a mother, Kessler immerses herself in the vibrant, dynamic, and scary culture of the 21st century teen.
The Reviews are In…
“The astute, intrepid Lauren Kessler dives into the deep end of teenage culture in this witty, entertaining, and ultimately wise tale of surviving her fiesty daughter’s middle school years. Her book belongs on the nightstand of every parent, and everyone who thinks she may one day become a parent.”
—Karen Karbo, Motherhood Made a Man out of Me
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Many moms (present company included!) wonder about what their 13-year-old children are up to each day. Lauren Kessler decided to stop wondering and start integrating: Into her daughter’s middle school, summer camp, and more. Like a reality show, but much, much, much better.
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If you want to understand what is going on with your teenage daughter, there is nothing better than reading My Teenage Were-Wolf. Even though she is exploring a serious subject, Kessler writes in a very light and witty style. If you do have a daughter in or approaching her teen years, then this is a must read book.
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…as Kessler digs deeper and begins to recognize her daughter’s need for power over her own life and choices, this mother/daughter relationship ripens with compassion and mutual understanding. Mothers of girls in particular will be alternately amused, horrified, and entertained as they view the turmoil and triumphs of adolescence from Kessler’s insightful perspective.
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…a bold book…No one could do more thorough research…Going where not many have gone before, with a lantern in her hand seeking out the truth about a crucial turning point in the lives of all girls, Lauren Kessler is to be commended for both her bravery and her intellectuality in a very emotional realm. Mothers, daughters, women of all ages, men – all should read this book to see what it’s REALLY like being a girl.
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Few relationships are deeper, more fraught, and, when they go right, more blissful than the relationship between a mother and a daughter. But how do we traverse this sometimes rocky terrain? Intelligent, open-hearted and witty, Lauren Kessler’s My Teenage Werewolf supplies a map for mothers of teenage daughters everywhere.
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To find out what’s up with teenage girls, Lauren Kessler goes where no mother has gone before — like the girls’ locker room in middle school. If you’re battered by a daughter who’s 10 times smarter and 100 times cooler than you are, this book could save your sanity. It turns out that that teen monster is still your little girl — just don’t let her know that you know it!
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When best-selling nonfiction author Lauren Kessler turns to her own household with the sharp eye and reporting skills of an embedded journalist, the life of an American teenager–of HER American teenage daughter–becomes a window onto childhood, adulthood, and all the markers in-between. A child’s precarious climb from immaturity to maturity, with the strong hand of a mother for balance, is illuminated here by a young woman who has given her mother access, and by the mother who has handled that access with respect, empathy, humor, and boundless love.
