Coming Soon

Do you feel like you are the only one struggling while raising your teenager? Academic stress, mental health, tech usage, competitive athletics, self-esteem issues, adolescent apathy, disrespectful behavior—it's tough to be a teen these days, and just as tough to parent one. If you're in the thick of it with your adolescent—or if you're getting a jumpstart on this difficult time—this book can help you untangle the complex challenges and improve your relationship with your kids.

When Rowan was sixteen, she only tolerated communication from her mother in the form of Snapchat. Desperate to be closer to her daughter, Christie sent daily selfies of her face superimposed onto a chicken nugget. It took serious illness for them to finally talk – and truly listen. Rowan's mental health struggles revealed the chasm between their generations. They started being more honest with each other than they had ever been before: discussing identity, race and gender; opening up about disordered eating and self-harm; navigating the perils of social media.

Over the past decade, children’s mental health challenges have reached epidemic levels—stress, anxiety, childhood depression, and suicide are at unprecedented high rates. Amid high-stakes pressure for kids to succeed, parents and teachers have never needed a road map to healthy child development more urgently. And as psychologist and educator Doug Bolton explains in this eye-opening guide, underlying our modern-day stresses is an even more pervasive problem: We’re relying on practices that are not in line with what science tells us about how to truly motivate children and help them thrive.

In medieval times, uncharted waters were marked on maps as Here Be Dragons to signify that no one knew what dangers might lie ahead. Melanie Shankle quips that the years spent raising our teenage daughters could be labeled the same due to the uncertainties before us. Filled with personal stories and written in the same whimsical and honest style Melanie is known for, Here Be Dragons will have you both laughing out loud and crying—as you confront the challenges of raising your own strong, independent daughter while fighting dragons along the way.