Acknowledgments ix

About the Author xi

Author’s Note xiii

Introduction xv

Voices of Parents Past xix

1 Preparing for the Inevitable 1

2 A Road Map to Early and Mid-Adolescence 21

3 A Road Map to Late Adolescence and

Trial Independence 49

4 Parenting Adolescent Sons and Daughters 83

5 The Complexities of Spoken Communication 105

6 The Use and Abuse of Confl ict 127

7 Discipline That Does and Doesn’t Work 149

8 Informal and Formal Education 175

9 Problems with Peers 197

10 The Power of Parents 227

Epilogue: Climbing Fool’s Hill 249

Recommended Reading 253

Index 255