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Summary: Message of redemption straight from the heart
Review: I never meant to read this book. Though I am a big fan of Adair's column, I often got irritated when she wrote about her daughter, Morgan. What an infuriating girl! No way did I want to read about her antics. However, after reading a few pages just out of curiosity, I was hooked. Without being saccharine, the book pays a sturdy tribute to the redemptive power of persistent love and offers a valuable lesson in faith in the human spirit. While Adair captures the sense of parental powerlessness endemic to living with a wildly rebellious teen-ager, she does so with humor and a passion that pulls the reader in (even when she doesn't intend to be sucked in!). She also deftly draws a picture of her relationship with an errant father, paralleling her own struggles to guide an unwilling child with being the daughter of--and eventually reverse-parenting--an unwilling father. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever been tempted to give up on another human being, relative or not.
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Summary: "Parents,...Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Teenagers.."
Review: I read this book purely by accident and found it to be a wonderful story that makes one reflect on relationships we have with our parents.Growing up in a single parent family myself I found it to mirror similar times.Although I wasn't as wild as the character of "Morgan",I could most definately relate.Its funny because I personally know Morgan and didn't beleive the times she had until reading a first hand account in this book.I think the best benifit of this book, if any, is that it makes us think of the stuff we put our parents through,and pray our own kids don't do on us as we did to them.But at the same time we can hope to overcome for our own teenage hijinks just as wonderful,as Morgan
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Summary: What a Mom....
Review: I was looking forward to reading this book having read Adair Lara's column for years and following the "antics" of Morgan. I thought it might provide some insight into raising teenage girls as I have three myself. This book was a disappointment from the get go. I was appalled at the lax way Ms. Lara had of "excusing" Morgan's dangerous behavior. She is very, very lucky that her daughter came through the kind of abusive behavior she exhibted, and that Mom allowed, ALIVE! Teens need boundries...teens need parents who know how to say NO and mean it and most of all teens need parents who aren't afraid to make decisions for their "children" no matter how unpopular it makes them. I couldn't believe that when things got bad she sent her away not once, not twice, not even three times...but four times that she shared with the readers. Believe me, there are many times that we "strict" parents would love to send our teenager to live with someone else so we could get on with our lives. Guess What? Being a parent means hanging in there through thick and thin....and why would you send a troubled teen to live with relatives who had trouble sticking to boundries all their lives. This story was painful at best to read and I kept at it hoping that Ms. Lara would finally stand up and do what was right. I found the ending very hard to take....after many chapters of one destructive behavior after another on Morgan's part all of a sudden she was cleaning the house, cooking, friendly and....graduating from college?? I implore any parent of teens who reads this hoping for advice on how to handle unacceptable behavior to consider it a comical at best and as a guide to what NOT to do with your teen.
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Summary: A Glittering diamond
Review: I was so fortunate that my husband found this book at the airport. He picked it up because we were having so much trouble with our oldest teenage daughter. He read it first and highly recommended I read it. Twenty or so pages through I realized our daughter was a clone of "Morgan". The diagnosis from the psychiatrist was identical. (Even the name of the psychiatrist was identical). Deans' (the drug rehab counselor)assesment that "she feels safe to act out because you have such a secure home" was told to us by the "first" psycholgist to see our daughter. Our home is not a broken one either. No second or third marriages here. It was so nice to feel "not so alone" reading about Ms. Laras ordeal. If you have another child like I do who "follows the rules" behaves and listens, its hard to reconcile that your a lousy parent. After reading her book I believe it was the luck of the draw when it comes to children, and they could be wired very differently. Even if I couldn't identify with Adairs "Morgan" it was still an excellent read, beautifully written. There were diamonds scattered on EVERY page. I was transformed while reading about Adairs life with her on and off father, so much like my own, a difficult high I.Q (er).
I have and will continue to recommend this book to other parents of "difficult" children. Thank you Adair Lara
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Summary: Funny,Painful,and a book that hits too close to home.pd5cass
Review: In the book Hold me Close, let me Go the author, Adair Lara shares her experience in raising her daughter and the good and bad times they shared. This got you really involved in the book, it's strenghts were that it got you involved in the characters lives. You could relate to what they were ffeeling and thinking, because everyone person once in their lives has gone through and felt the same thing. One of the book's weaknesses was that the author exagerates the conflicts a bit much. This makes you think that the book is a bit too dramatical. There are some parts in the book were you could relate to the conflicts that were taking place but your reaction when it happened to you was totally differnt. It was also interesting hearing the authors opinion and how she delt with the situation. Over all I think the book was a very good book, and I would recomend it to any teenage girl who thinks they're the only ones going through difficulties with their parents and their lives.
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Summary: Wow, the honesty it took to write this book blows me away
Review: It can be very difficult to know how to approach one's children. Many of the advice books make it sound like a cookie recipe; if you measure the amount of ingredients carefully and bake so long, the product will be perfect. In fact, there is no way to know when you start how one's children's lives will work out in the end. Most parents want the best for their children but may not know how to make it happen. It is very hard for parents to face this, let alone write about it for the public. I enjoyed reading Adair Lara's book because I thought it was honest. There seems to be a genre of books about difficult teenagers and Morgan fit the type. At the beginning cuddly and adorable; as she grows older argumentative, yelling, bewailing her fate to be in such a boring family, running away. In fact, Adair's family seems pretty interesting, maybe too much so. And it is true that some of her family events did distract her from Morgan, but can anyone stand to spend 100% of her time thinking about her rebellious and hurtful daughter? And with so many divorced families these days, isn't it better to have her father living upstairs than in some distant city? This book again confirms Tolstoy's observation that all happy families are alike, but all unhappy families are unhappy differently. The only addition I would have liked to see would be a statement that her daughter had read the book and agreed that it should be published.
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Summary: Children can be scary to live with
Review: It can be very difficult to know how to approach one's children. Many of the advice books make it sound like a cookie recipe; if you measure the amount of ingredients carefully and bake so long, the product will be perfect. In fact, there is no way to know when you start how one's children's lives will work out in the end. Most parents want the best for their children but may not know how to make it happen. It is very hard for parents to face this, let alone write about it for the public. I enjoyed reading Adair Lara's book because I thought it was honest. There seems to be a genre of books about difficult teenagers and Morgan fit the type. At the beginning cuddly and adorable; as she grows older argumentative, yelling, bewailing her fate to be in such a boring family, running away. In fact, Adair's family seems pretty interesting, maybe too much so. And it is true that some of her family events did distract her from Morgan, but can anyone stand to spend 100% of her time thinking about her rebellious and hurtful daughter? And with so many divorced families these days, isn't it better to have her father living upstairs than in some distant city? This book again confirms Tolstoy's observation that all happy families are alike, but all unhappy families are unhappy differently. The only addition I would have liked to see would be a statement that her daughter had read the book and agreed that it should be published.
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Summary: Loved this book!
Review: My teenage daughter doesn't just push my buttons - she jams her finger on them and doesn't take them off for a long time! So I have to say I enjoyed (in a perverse way) reading the struggles another Mom had with her teenage daughter. I read it in two sittings and my whole attitude toward my teen has changed. If Adair and her daughter can come through what they had to overcome and still be friends ... there is hope for all of us. Thanks, Adair, for letting me know that I am not alone and that there is light at the end of the teenage tunnel.
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Summary: G-O-N-G ))--
Review: Remember the GONG show? Well, I was compelled to knock this book outta contention. Adair Lara teaches writing, yet, her literary voice was very weak in presenting this story. Part of the problem is her habit of drifting within her paragraphs. Essentially, her scattered thoughts are transformed directly onto paper. Adair leaps from Morgan in the present; to her dad in the past; over to her sisters in the past and present; back to her "ex" and present husband. I found myself extremely critical of Adair's parenting skills. Adair wasn't aware that Morgan was screaming for help by acting out. Unfortunately, mother is no match for daughter, as we clearly saw how Morgan had Adair wrapped around her fingers. I was appalled when Adair shared her thoughts regarding Dean, the drug clinic's director, who provided guidance regarding Morgan. Adair writes, "I felt so grateful to Dean I practically wanted to sleep with him." With a statement like that, perhaps the readers can understand how Morgan became so troubled. The author discreetly portrays her current husband, Bill, as inept, former hubby, Jim, as the upstairs "wimp," but herself as a loving, caring mother whose daughter was ungrateful and out of control. The reality is that Adair was too self-absorbed, clueless, and lacked backbone to effectively deal with Morgan's problems. The author should be thankful her daughter wasn't violent or a hardcore runaway.
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Summary: Wow, the honesty it took to write this book blows me away
Review: They say to write a good memoir, you must write as if everyone is already dead. Man, Adair Lara knows how to follow that advice - and apparently is still on good terms with everyone in this book. Stupidly shelvedin parenting sections, bookstores should better market this as memoir. No one, having read it, would take it for a parenting manual. It's one woman's story of her difficulties, triumphs, and failures, challenges and sacrifices, doubts and agonies of blundering her way through parenting one of god's most difficult and brilliant (always a dangerous combination) teenage girls.
Also, as Lara is primarily a humor writer, it's screamingly funny, and laugh you will, when you're not holding your breath to see what new devilment Morgan (the daughter) will get up to next. I think the most profound lesson a parent would get from this book is that if you love your kids and let them know it, you'll all probably survive those difficult transitional years.
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