The Myth of Maturity

This is a sensitive and practical book about 'thresholders' subtitled 'what teenagers need from parents to become adults'. The author teaches at Cambridge and draws on a large body of research, illustrating her thesis with vivid case histories. The core of her thesis, which I am sure is correct, is that many teenagers and young adults do need their parents' guidance and support while at the same time demanding respect and independence. This is not an easy balancing act, as the book amply demonstrates, but the author draws out helpful guidelines to deal with various types of situation that will be only too familiar to parents in their current position or how they remember themselves twenty or thirty years ago. Strongly recommended to both parents and students.