The Agony and the Agony: Raising Your Teenager Without Losing Your Mind

Betty Londergan has done it again! She's made her book of advice for bewildered parents into a helpful, hysterical guide that will have you laughing at the same time as you're learning something that you can actually use. We've all experienced some of the scenarios that she describes, and now we know that we really will live through it, and maybe end up with semi-healthy relationships with our kids! There's a lot to make you laugh, but there are also many insightful passages that reassure and guide the clueless parent. Thanks, Betty---you've guided us through the kiddie years, and now the teens---I'm looking forward to what's next!!

If you are a parent of a teen, living at home, you surely know how difficult it is to guide them and accept their oftentimes difficult and unacceptable behavior. This book is extremely helpful and to the point, at the same time it is treated with humor and understanding and finally, oh yes, finally, the hope that it will not last forever, but hopefully sooner than you might think, they will finally grow up and in time they will be dealing with similar issues with their own children. I have read a number of books on adolescent behavior and problems, and find this to be a calming and in the middle of the storm kind of book. Read it and learn from it and trust yourself that you will be able to survive. Good luck.

Just about the time that our sweet young boy began to be intermittently possessed by a sullen, remote, monosyllabic video gamer, and about the same time that parents of our son's friends reported an eerily similar body-snatcher type scenario in their own kid's bedroom, we came across this wonderful book. How grateful we are for the level headed advice and the many personal examples, delivered with such candor and good humor. One can dip in anywhere , read some passages on Coping Skills , Boundary Violations or Choosing Your Battles, and you'll quickly discover your anxiety level decreasing as you recognize yourself in the many colorful first person anecdotes, and by the empathic, warm hearted and plain spoken encouragement that follows. All delivered in a witty , wise voice that both validates and illuminates. We've even been gifting copies to our friends with pre-adolescents . We tell them to not be afraid, just think of this book as a "what to expect when you're expecting.. teen-agers".

OMG! I was so frustrated with my 3 teenagers that it was either go get drunk or go to the bookstore. Fortunately, I chose responsibly and went to the bookstore and stumbled onto this book. I read the chapter on Landmines first and all of it rang (horribly) true! I haven't even read the rest of it but felt compelled to get on here and share my experience. This book literally snapped me out of my self-doubt and frustration and let me know that I wasn't alone, I wasn't crazy and, yes, I was actually doing some things right. It's so refreshing to have someone be honest about what living with teenagers is like in the internet/cell phone/over-informed age we live in. I can't wait to read more.

So, in some sort of miracle of timeing, I was lamenting the horrible change that has come over my daughter, this month - the month she turned 12. Somehow I'm not the 'wonder' mom I used to be. I'm now someone who needs to be tolerated and improved by my 'cool' daughter. Nothing I do is right, I don't eat right, drive right, have any taste in clothes - nothing. Lamenting the loss of my sweet precious child...to this...demon preteen...I walked into my local bookstore and saw this book - THE AGONY and the AGONY: Raising your teenager without losing your mind. I turned the book over and saw the three things her teenager said, and they were exactly what my daughter had just said to me last week! I sat down in the bookstore and started reading the book as if my sanity depended upon it. Then I bought it. Then I called up my friends with 12 year old daughters and read it to them. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's funny and insightful and will help you realize your not alone. Thank you Betty L for writing this book!