Mark Oestreicher
Zondervan, 2011, 200 pp., $14.99

There is finally a book that you can feel comfortable handing to the mddle school/junior high parent sitting in your office! Understanding Your Young Teen by Mark Oestreicher (*Marko, to most of us in the youth ministry world) is a concise and thorough read that gently walks parents through the young teen years. His heart for this age group saturates every page as he introduces and explains each area of young teen development and life.

The book starts off introducing the age group, defined as 11- to 14-years-old, then hones in on the key word of this period of life as change. The core chapters of the book follow through explaining each of the changes that are taking place in a young teen’s life. The final chapters close the book, helping parents understand young teen culture and with suggestions on responding well to your child. Beyond the exceptional content inside each chapter, the book also includes “A Word to Parents” written by other well-known youth workers on each subject.

If you are a youth worker who is involved in any way in the lives of young teens, I would strongly suggest reading this book and having a few copies available in your office for parents. If you are a youth worker who works specifically with middle school and junior high students, this book and the previous book Middle School Ministry are essentials in your library.
–Dan Istvanik

Understanding Your Young Teen offers great insight into so many specifics about the different areas of young adolescence from the physical changes to friendships. Parenting is not just about understanding one part of your teen but his or her culture and the world around him or her. It gives you practical ideas about getting inside the mind and emotions of your teen during this big change in their life. Oestreicher reveals the importance of parenting and the true impact parents can have on their teens.
–Dr. Scott Newton, Student Minister First Baptist Church, Moore

Marko did a great job with adolescent development background coupled with practical tips and aids for adults and parents to come alongside teenagers with real world advice.
–Dr. Jeff Baxter, Littleton, Colorado

The book is a deep well of great researched information for parents and youth leaders. Although the subtitle is Practical Wisdom for Parents, the content is also valuable for those adults who lead youth ministries. One cautionary word: It only deals with early teens or adolescence, not after that age group. A person will need to find another book for that content.

Oestreicher goes through the various areas of change in a teen. He uses numerous illustrations from his own life and from others to demonstrate how these changes play out in life. In addition, the book contains great tips about how to relate to a young teen during these tough years. Each chapter concludes with some thoughts by other people in ministry with teens, which gives a different or deeper perspective of the chapter’s topic.

This is one book I wish I had when I started ministry. I strongly recommend it for youth leaders to have in their libraries as a resource, content for training parents and leaders, and as a reminder of what is happening as young teens enter, experience, and exit early adolescence.
–Sam Yeager, Allentown, Penn., Christian Endeavor Mid-Atlantic’s Ministries Director and D.Min. student at Gordon Conwell: Ministry to Emerging Generations

I loved this book. It was a great balance of scientific and practical information, as well as encouragement. As someone who is a youth leader, but not yet a parent, I found it helpful for my ministry as a tool for my personal ministry and as a tool to recommend to parents. Our church currently is offering a course for parenting teens, and I plan to recommend this to them. I think it is encouraging and equipping for parents of students this age or could be great preparation material for parents of preteens as they prepare for the challenges of parenting a middle school student.

I also have used some of the research on brain development when talking to a high school junior about his younger, middle school brother. The information  gave the older brother a bit more understanding and compassion for the drama of middle school students and their crazy relationships.
–Joy Wendling, Director of Children’s and Youth Ministries, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Anacortes, Washington

Thanks for the opportunity to read through and review this resource. I loved it. Here are a few excerpts from my blog post about it:
In a marvelous, practical and authentic look at middle school students, or as Mark Oestreicher (Marko) calls them, young teens, he gives us a glimpse at who a young teen is from not only his 30+ years of middle school ministry, but more importantly as a father of two himself. This book is a gift for any parent, even if your children aren’t in their middle school years yet. Marko goes through all of the different aspects of a young teen’s life, carefully and practically examining and explaining all the typical changes a young teen experiences. More importantly, Marko gives us (youth workers and parents) the tools we need in order to help coach and raise children through the often tumultuous middle school years. This book, while written as practical wisdom for parents, I believe will become the new essential teaching manual for youth workers trying to equip parents, and who want to equip themselves in how to minister more effectively to young teens. I encourage any youth worker out there to get a copy and keep it as a resource, as well as other copies to give to parents of their students. It will be one of the greatest things we as the church can do to help equip parents to be able to live out their God-given roles as parents.

Furthermore, I think this book is a perfect resource to use within a parenting class/seminar in any ministry setting. This book is a resource that needs to get into the hands of parents with young teens and those who are expecting young teens. It would make as a perfect resource for a weekly discussion about all the areas of development and change to which Marko gives insight. I also believe this would be a good resource for youth workers to go through with their volunteer teams. The book is incredibly in-depth, and therefore is a bit lengthy in some circumstances to be asking volunteers to read through it themselves, but that should not keep a youth pastor from using it as a training resource with their volunteers.
—Keith Klingen, Twitter

I’ll be honest. I quit reading books such as this years ago because I was tired of reading the same introduction to adolescence in every book. I heard the same facts, the same process and the same verbiage so many times I thought I was in college again and the teacher was drilling this information into me. So, why I am recommending this book? Because we all need a refresher course and because my son is turning 13 this year, I definitely need a refresher course on the pre-teen years. No matter how many times you’ve read about the adolescent journey, you can learn something new; and that is what Marko brings to parents and youth workers in this book.

Marko gleefully brings us through the young teen growth process as an adolescent himself who has learned how to do an ollie on his skateboard. He not only knows his stuff, but shares it in way that won’t have your brain begging for a Twitter break. Parents and youth workers will appreciate the real world stories Marko brings from his 30 years of ministry. The books includes a valuable chapter, among others, by Dr. Kara Powell and Josh Griffin called “See Jane Face New Issues,” which delves into the lives of  middle school girls in particular. This makes a great resource for the youth workers to give away to parents with young teens just entering the youth ministry–a simple way to say, “Welcome to my world.”
–Paul Turner

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