A veteran journalist navigates the mother-daughter relationship at its most crucial moment
With the eye of a reporter, the curiosity of ... read full description
reviews
Jan 29, 2012
"The descent from mother-goddess to mother-demon is a predictable, well-documented narrative, as predictable as the descent from sweet little girl to moody, mercurial teenager," remarks Kessler in the opening pages to her book, My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, a Daughter, a Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence, her incisive and cogent book about parenting teenagers, which begins with a scene of her seventh grade daughter, Lizzie, coming home surly from school while Kessler struggle
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Jan 10, 2011
Ciara
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this book was well-written & nicely readable & everything...but also a little cringe-inducing. it's non-fiction about the author's attempts to build a better relationship with her teenage daughter, lizzie, than her own mother had with her. kessler explains that she & her mother began their decades-long estrangement when kessler turned thirteen, & she is terrified that her relationship with lizzie might go the same way...even though kessler managed to shepherd two boys through their teenage years
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Oct 05, 2010
Cindy
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Worried that she was losing touch with her teen daughter, author Lauren Kessler did what few moms would be willing to do: immerse herself in middle school classrooms, locker rooms and cafeterias, taking notes all the while to turn into a nonfiction book. The result, My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence, is a revealing work that will both concern and give hope to moms everywhere.
My Teenage Werewolf’s universal appeal comes not only fr More...
My Teenage Werewolf’s universal appeal comes not only fr More...
Sep 28, 2010
MollyD
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Sep 04, 2010
Lenore
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You have to look right, wear the right clothes, be seen with the right people. You can't be too skinny or too fat, too loud or too quiet. Stand up for yourself and what you believe in - unless your opinion is unpopular. This is the world of middle school, the world that author Lauren Kessler delves into in My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, a Daughter, a Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence. The story is well told and completely true as Lauren describes her struggled with teenage daughter Lizz
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Sep 04, 2010
Maria
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What I Can Tell You: This book is exactly what mom's of children entering the pre-teen stage. It is written about a daughter but I think the concept works just as well with a son, although Lauren completely mentions how much easier the relationship with her sons were. I do agree that the relationship is different but not necessarily easier. I also believe this is a great book for counselors, teachers, principals of middle schools and anyone who works with children. Very insightful book.
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Dec 09, 2010
Megan
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Where I work I see a lot of crappy parenting. I see good parenting too, but a lot of the parenting I actually notice is just crappy. Beyond the actual "call CPS already" situations I've seen, there's crap like the mom who told her child "books are for children, movies are for adults," parents who ignore their crying children in favor of Facebook, and parents who let their children wander at will. Then there's the minor things. Parents who will not let their child do something
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Mar 12, 2011
Kristin
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OK, any mother-daughter analysis written with any grace and humor at all would probably get 4 stars from me. I may be jumping the gun a little, but I found this book to be a good little fast-forward for me as my daughters keep speeding up their growing. It wasn't a bad peek back into the world of middle school, either, which my son will start next year. Really, it was a hopeful and exciting perspective of what's in store, and that even the baggage I may have from my own growing-up can possibl
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Sep 03, 2010
Elizabeth
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While this is a great look into the mind of the mother of a girl right on the edge of beginning her teens years, I have to tell you, what really blew me away was Lauren Kessler's daughter, Lizzie. Lauren Kessler worries over her, and how they don't talk like she'd like them too, and how they end up fighting when she doesn't want to, but I came away from the book thinking that Lizzie is one of the strongest girls I've ever read about. EVER. She has such fierce convictions, and such a strong belie
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Nov 25, 2011
Sara
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I was not going to read this book just because I thought the title was pretty lame. However, I heard some interviews with the author, fellow Oregonian that she is, and it sounded interesting. I found it more than just interesting, Ms. Kessler becomes a keen observer of the world of middle-schoolers, and chronicles their days in an almost anthropological fashion. I recommend this read to anyone who has tweens, soon to be middle-schoolers, or works with them. I came away with a better understandin
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Sep 03, 2011
Jeanne
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Rarely do I read a book and think, "I need to buy this for X." But My Teenage Werewolf is one I'd like to buy for every woman I know. Not just mothers. Women. Because we have all been there, struggling to understand who we are and who we will be and trying to make our parents understand.
Lauren Kessler manages to impart both her frustration with and love for her daughter as she gives women a rare look into the real life of a teenage girl (her's in this case). I'm saving this More...
Lauren Kessler manages to impart both her frustration with and love for her daughter as she gives women a rare look into the real life of a teenage girl (her's in this case). I'm saving this More...
Jan 17, 2011
Jamie
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I wasn't sure what to expect from this book once I started reading it. Thankfully, Lauren Kessler has a fantastic conversational style of writing and I was hooked immediately. My daughter is 10, a soon-to-be-tween. I, too, have struggled with finding adequate ways to connect with her through the changes she is experiencing. This book has given me a lot of insight, and a lot of hope that I can survive through my daughter's teen years without losing my mind or our relationship along the way.
Sep 03, 2010
Lauren
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OK...so this is MY book, my new book, just out from Viking. But I AM reading it to prepare for public readings/ book tour. Reviewers are calling the book "hilarious," "insightful," "harrowing," "poignant" and "like reality TV, only much much better." Which was meant as a compliment, I guess. It's an in-the-trenches exploration of 21st century teen girl culture and that maddening, sanity-stealing -- but absolutely essential -- relationship bet
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Dec 01, 2010
Kathy
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This book was very funny tho a bit long winded. I enjoyed the first half much more and had to skim parts towards the end. However, I highly recommend this for both a laugh and for not feeling so alone on the journey of raising a teen!
Oct 12, 2010
Cyndy
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I would recommend this for anyone who has a daughter 12 - 14 years old. I was jealous of the relationship between the mother and daughter. I wish my daughter would talk to me as much as the author's daughter talked to her.
Jan 24, 2012
Sarah
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She offers an accessible review of research on early adolescent development woven into the story of her experience of her daughter's middle school years. Everything works out too neatly, though, for this to be a book I love.
Sep 20, 2010
Kdevoli
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Hilarious!! This is one of the better books about parenting a teenage girl that I've read. The author presents her home life with great humor and candor. Reading the book felt like sitting across a table with a good friend over a cup of coffee. Recommended for all moms of current adolescent girls.
Mar 07, 2011
Lisa
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Absolutely hilarious and bittersweet at the same time.
I highly recommend it for any mother going through this time in
her daughter life.
I highly recommend it for any mother going through this time in
her daughter life.
Sep 03, 2010
Kim
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I don't have a daughter, but I learned so much from this book: why the students I teach act the way they do, why my friends who are moms of teenage girls are so happy to come to work on some days, why it was ok that I didn't talk to my mother for most of my thirteenth year (slight exaggeration). Kessler's book about motherhood, daughterhood, and what binds the two together (and tears the two apart) is a terrific read and an engaging take on a subject that half the population has experienced at o
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Mar 14, 2011
Abandoned unfinished, because it came due from the library but other books kept sucking me in while this one didn't do much for me.
Nov 11, 2010
Amy
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Interesting read about the relationship of a young teen girl and her mother. I wouldn't take this as a guidebook on how to deal with your teen, it is this particular mother/daugther situation. I'd give the book four and a half stars, but there were a couple of times I was bored for two or three pages.
Apr 05, 2011
Lauren Kessler is a UO professor who writes non-fiction, biographical works and is one of my favorite UO authors.
Jan 28, 2012
