Finding the Path: A Novel for Parents of Teenagers

I have two 15 year old boys and a 13 year old girl, and at 37 I sometimes I feel I'm too young for all this, I'm still a teen at heart myself! So I was looking for a book on how to make my teenagers "behave", and I liked the reviews for this book. I eagerly read it and surprisingly came out of the experience with a new outlook on my kids and myself. It was a fun read, not preachy, not hard to follow. I loved the story and saw myself in many of Anna's behaviors and comments. I have been able to do small things to change the way I react to situations with my teens, and I have to say that we're all a bit happier now! I keep the book on my nightstand and refer to the end notes all the time. Thank you so much Jeffrey and Abby for this book!

Collaboratively written by Jeffrey P. Kaplan (a licensed psychologist with a full-time practice specializing in adolescent psychology and stress management) and Abby Lederman (a freelance journalist who facilitates workshops for parents of teens, and who teaches parenting courses), Finding The Path is a unique kind of parenting self-help guide that presents its "love-based parenting" plan showcased within the context of a fiction novel about a single mother and her rebellious teenage son. Extensive endnotes and appendices help bring into relief the practical and sound advice for parents everywhere trying to figure out their teenagers. Sometimes fiction can be effectively in the service of providing useful and usable information -- Finding The Path is highly recommended as being just such a novel.

What a great idea! The co-authors of Finding the Path are really onto something. One of them is a psychologist and the other one the mother of three teenagers. The novel they wrote is exciting. It's about a mother's struggle todeal with the changes that arise in her realtionship with her son when he becomes a teenager. The best part of this book is that it is easy-to-read and it has footnotes that document the psychological theory behind the story. All of this makes the book a fun read and a learning experience for stressed out parents of teenagers - and there are many of us! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to turn their relationship with their teens around before it's too late. This is a must-read book!

This is indeed a "must read" for anyone struggling with their teen. What a gift this little book proved to be when my "normally compliant" youngest daughter became an angry, frustrated, emotionally charged teenager that certainly seemed to threaten my very sanity. "Finding the Path" helped me get my feet back on the ground, get some space and perspective back and ultimately helped me find a place where the two of us could interact without so much pain. Although we're still working on this relationship and will for a while yet I'm sure, I'm not angry with her anymore. Her life is her own as is mine. I hope "Finding the Path" gets the recognition it so deserves so parents will clamor to read it. It's certainly a BEST SELLER in my book!

Finding the Path is a powerful parenting tool. It is different from other parenting books in that it conveys invaluable parenting lessons through an enjoyable and interesting story. The most valuable lesson for me was the impact that my actions have on my teen's behavior.I found the appendices to be a helpful summary of the lessons that were intertwined throughout the story. They alone were worth the price of the book. Thanks to Finding the Path I now have concrete steps that I can take to improve my relationship with my teenager. And as a bonus, I have a better understanding of myself!