Rating: 
Summary: Some good points, but sensational in other regard; not news
Review: I found the teenager's stories interesting and in some cases a sad comment on the stultifying atmosphere of the "planned communities". I lived in Columbia for several years and felt that the "culture" imposed a great burden on teenagers to attend top colleges and succeed economically. At the same time, the community provided few activities and little emotional support for kids, seeming to view them as public nuisances and lacking tolerance for nonconformist teens. Those teens without caring parents were simply cast adrift. The author's description of school censorship of a student paper, and similar attempts to control student freedom of expression, made me very angry at the hypocritical school administration. Even though these aspects rang true, I nevertheless felt that the author chose some of the most troubled students to profile in hopes of attracting more attention. Troubled teens are not a new phenomenon (I remember many classmates on drugs or from dysfunctional families in my high school) and we need to stop seeing these kids as a "tribe apart" and see them in the broad stream of society. I would have been more interested in reading short portraits of a large number of students rather than focusing intensely on a handpicked few who have legitimate, obvious, and serious problems. As it is, I felt like many valid points of view were omitted from the book to play up a few sensational stories involving suicide and parental abuse. One story also involves a mentally ill teenager, and to me it seems that his experience is a poor choice to characterize the general growth experiences of teens who do not suffer from mental disease.
Rating: 
Summary: capturing the complexities
Review: I greatly enjoyed this book. I was so captivated by the characters themselves, yet I was equally impressed with the way in which Hersch presented their lives to the reader. Hersch balances the life stories of each of the kids with an academic analyzation that remains human and warm. The conclusion of this book made me weep. Yet, I also felt very hopeful that there are things adults can do to positively effect the lives of adolescents. The book is so informative, yet not pessimistic. It is realistic without being dramatic. Adolescents are displayed as the eclectic age group they are in a beautiful and loving way by Hersch.
Rating: 
Summary: Another SLHS grad weighs in ...
Review: I grew up in Reston, Virginia and graduated from South Lakes High in 1994, along with several of the students Hersch writes about. While she tells some compelling (and mostly accurate) stories, I agree with my classmate's statement that she tends to sensationalize things. Also, Hersch seems to rely almost exclusively on interviews with eight representative students for her information. She does a great job of letting them speak for themselves and avoiding the good-teen / bad-teen dichotomy, but this method has pitfalls of its own. In particular, she condemns adults for not knowing where their children are, but doesn't give them a chance to speak for themselves. She includes only brief snippets of interviews with parents, most of which simply drive home the point that Mom and Dad haven't a clue. Also, the book would have been much more balanced and accurate if she had stepped back a little and taken the time to read between the lines of the interviews, rather than showing consistent sympathy for her eight subjects. At one point, she tells the story of Rachel, who was raped and subsequently dumped by her two best friends. One of the friends was Hersch's interview subject; she stated that Rachel had become "mean and insulting" and not a good friend. Hersch takes this at face value; she makes no attempt to get Rachel's side of the story. In trying to create a sympathetic portrait of these students, she ignores the dog-eat-dog nature of high school social life -- a factor that would have made many of her stories all the more poignant if she'd taken it into account.
Rating: 
Summary: one of the greatest books of all time
Review: I loved it, I am a teenager and this is the honust truth. From all the pain to the joy of the book ever last word is validated. I enjoyed the book and give props to Hersch for the great job.
Rating: 
Summary: narrow, poorly written account of one community's youth
Review: I read this book as part of a survey of popular, current literature on adolescent psychology. I am a recent high school graduate (2003), and, frankly, find Ms. Hersh's supposedly subjective perspective syrupy and utterly false. Her students came from one small community, so how can she claim to be speaking for all of America's public school-educated teens? I atteneded a small, Catholic private school, perhaps that is why I disagree with her so much. Also, as evidenced by comments from other reviewers, she obviously didn't present a balanced view of her subjects. Her editors are also as fault, as is Hersh herself, for not having the sense to realize that these adolescents are ultimately responsible for their own destinies, and that they, then, are responsible for all the choices they make in life. Parents and their values, or lack thereof, may also play a part, but, ultimately, it is the teenager's choice whether to listen to society or not. I chose not to, and although that caused me to have very few friends, that didn't matter since I knew I was being true to what I knew was right in my heart. Our society needs to learn that social contacts are much less important than having a clearcut belief and value system. Without it, no matter how many friends you have to help solve problems won't make any difference, there is a good chance that the problem won't be solved correctly, or morally or logically.
Rating:
Summary: A good book for teens and adults to read.
Review: I read this book for a report for school and I think that everyone my age should read it. I am a senior in High School and not only did this book show me that there are lots of things out their that I have come into contact with that others understand but it gives adults a chance to really see the type of problems, and troublesome actions that we take as teens. I hope that teens read this and see what can happen, that they learn that help is availble and no matter what we should look to adults for help, even if there not our parents.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I thought this book was great. Very informative and I felt it was true to what goes on his children's lives. I had to read this in college about 6 years ago and I have recommended it to every parent I know, and they have had glowing reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I thought this book was great. Very informative and I felt it was true to what goes on his children's lives. I had to read this in college about 6 years ago and I have recommended it to every parent I know, and they have had glowing reviews.
Rating:
Summary: True, upfront, interesting and a future best seller.
Review: I was assigned this book for a comp. class my senior year of high school. When my teacher told us that we had to read this, I wasn't very excited, but once I began reading, I couldn't stop. At first I found it odd to be reading a book about teenagers, since I was one, but once I started reading, I never questioned my teachers motives. This book demonstrates how teenageers feel and the growing pressures that are placed on them. Some readers find that this book is exaggerated and can be called false. It is true that this book does not represent all teenagers, but to do so would be nearly impossible. To simply state that this book has no foundation would be naive. I found it liberating from a teenager's standpoint to read this book because, I found that I could relate to many of the teens in the book. I suggest that this book be read by teenagers, parents, students and any one that works with or has an interest and love for children and teenagers.
Rating:
Summary: True, upfront, interesting and a future best seller.
Review: I was assigned this book for a comp. class my senior year of high school. When my teacher told us that we had to read this, I wasn't very excited, but once I began reading, I couldn't stop. At first I found it odd to be reading a book about teenagers, since I was one, but once I started reading, I never questioned my teachers motives. This book demonstrates how teenageers feel and the growing pressures that are placed on them. Some readers find that this book is exaggerated and can be called false. It is true that this book does not represent all teenagers, but to do so would be nearly impossible. To simply state that this book has no foundation would be naive. I found it liberating from a teenager's standpoint to read this book because, I found that I could relate to many of the teens in the book. I suggest that this book be read by teenagers, parents, students and any one that works with or has an interest and love for children and teenagers.
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