Overview

How? I asked myself. How do teens obtain mature wisdom to guide them through the troubled times of their lives? Where does the information come from? Friends? Books? Parents? Nowhere? My search for the answers led me to put down on paper my own life experiences and lessons and give it to my sons twenty years ago. I knew that the friends of my sons didn't have the experience or, frankly, enough experience on this earth to help guide them through life! Books? Which ones? I know that most parents are like I am. I would look at the books in the library and pick the ones written by an author I recognized. Did I know, really, that the contents would be helpful for my sons? No, but I thought who better than Mr. Famous author? So I bought the book, gave it to my teen son...and it sat on his bookshelf for years because I neglected to notice that it contained as many pages as the Library of Congress, and no teen in his right mind would even consider an attempt to plow through it. And, finally, parents? My usual conversation with my sons when I came home exhausted from work, and they from school, and sports and part-time jobs, consisted of: Hi, how was your day? Them: Fine Me: How was school? Them: OK, it was school, ya' know? Me: How did soccer practice go? Them: Fine That in-depth conversation took various forms on different days, but it seemed that no matter what form, the amount of words exchanged could be counted on ten fingers. And I knew that, if anything, my conversations were typical of the talks millions of you have with your parents. The majority of parents and kids don't have in-depth dialogues, meaningful conversations and probing discussions. Survey after survey shows that is the case. So, ahem, back to my previous question: Where do you teens get any worldly, mature wisdom these days? That quest led me to go back to the original document I gave to my sons many years ago. I decided I wanted to expand it, write down all the nuggets of wisdom I had gathered over the years and put them into a book so that you might benefit from a short, concise, easy-to-read guide that you could pick up and glance at a few of the nuggets of advice without a long read of chapters of text. That's when I also decided to categorize the advice into sections so that the wisdom you might want on a particular topic would be easier to find. Then, I validated it all by surveying dozens of local high school teens who gave me blunt critiques on what advice resonated with them. The anecdotes that introduce the chapters reflect real life. They happened as they are depicted here. Most of them revolve around my own sons, and all of them describe in story form some of what the advice in that chapter says to you. In other words, practical application of the nuggets of wisdom. Not all of the anecdotes have what you would call happy endings. Sometimes lessons in life come hard and negative choices can result in negative consequences. Hopefully, some of the anecdotes will resonate with you as you read and think about your own experiences. There is one final reason for this book. My hope is that, as a side benefit, it will help you connect with your parents. Perhaps your mom or dad, like me, who had difficulty engaging my teens in meaningful conversation, will give the book to you with the hope that it will engender some conversation. Please enjoy this little guide to life as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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9781499371246

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Paul Novak is a published author of fiction and nonfiction. He teaches Creative Writing at an adult extension of Arizona State University and holds writing workshops for those who wish to extend their creative side. His three now-grown sons were the original inspiration for this book. He resides near Phoenix, Arizona with his wife, Amy

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