Michael Riera, Ph.D.
Ten Speed Press, 2012, 256 pp., $14.99
This Third Edition of Michael Riera’s wide-ranging book on adolescence, Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers, is filled with heady stuff and is best regarded as a kind of psychological and social field guide for the teen-parent experience. Riera’s work obviously has struck a chord with tens of thousands of parents and, while none of the sections in this book delve too deeply into drugs, sex and friendship (for example), there is ample information to stir the imagination of any parent. There is also a chapter on the driver’s license as an important rite of passage.
Riera’s main focus throughout the book is teaching parents the value of communication (and how to parent effectively). Parents also will learn how to instill values in children. While not principally a book on faith, Uncommon Sense does provide an array of common sense approaches that parents can use to teach delayed gratification (sexual, social, financial) or work through an array of moral issues that touch the lives of teenagers daily. From sports to eating disorders to school and graduation—it’s all here.
Parents looking for a one-stop guide to teen parenting would find something helpful here. The book doesn’t provide all of the answers, but it does elicit the kind of deep background parents can use to formulate thought and discussion about most adolescent issues.
