The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults

Great book! As a high school teacher and coach this helped me understand the students I work with better!

The Teenage Brain by Frances E. Jensen is a rollercoaster read. My emotions were all over the place. As a mom to a 10-year-old, I can honestly say I feel overwhelmed by what is to come. And. if I'm honest, what is already here. I highly recommend this book to parents with kids of ALL ages. In fact, if you are a parent of young kids, get this book immediately so you are better prepared for what your kids will go through as teens. I appreciate the scientific explanations behind all the things happening in teen brains. I really like how Jensen, a scientist, writes this book in a manner that is wholly accessible to parents of all ages, backgrounds, and education levels. This book makes sense even when it's discussing technical science and physiology. The info in this book will stick with me LONG after having read the final page. I do recommend purchasing a physical copy of this book so you can take notes and mark pages. You will definitely want to come back to this book as your kids grow and mature. Overall, this is a truly excellent text. One I think all parents AND teachers must read. I purchased a physical copy of this book via Amazon.com on May 1, 2022, in order to read and review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Very good explanation of processes accompanying the development of a teenager from an expert in the field. Well written, easy to understand. Appropriate examples provided for illustration. In addition to details about the development of the brain, covers most topics around the subject such as drug abuse, juvenile crime, and others. The main shortcoming in this reader's opinion is that it treats teenagers as one monolithic body of people, and describes every one on the same basis. The differences between teenagers going through the same journey are not explained. All humans go through the teenage years. Some find it difficult, some really suffer and develop mental health problems, and others skate through with relative ease. The causes of these differences and how to address them are not provided any coverage. This is what would be of most importance to the target audience of such a book. Also, the book is light on what to do in case of trouble, which is understandable given its main focus. The interested parent would like to know what to do in case of trouble, in situations that require more than an understanding parent, a receptive ear, and genuine concern, especially in cases where the teenager is beyond the stage when he or she is interested in having a conversation with the parent without it degenerating into major arguments and worse. But overall, a very good contribution to the field.

I was quite impressed with this book, and found it amazingly articulate from both a science and parent perspective. This book was mentioned by my neurologist at CHOP in a way to describe a "frontal concussion" that my 9 year old son had sustained. With being in the medical field and specializing in adult surgical/trauma/neurosurgery nursing for 10 years, and also raising a 14 year old daughter, I was quickly interested in the subject matter. I expected to dig into a science book filled with all the aspects of the brain which is a subject I love to read. I was pleasantly surprised in the way the subject matter was broken down into information that anyone could read. The statistics and personal experiences made this book a must have for anyone raising a child. In the one week that I have had this book, I was able to understand my son's injury and his lack of impulse control. I have discussed this book in parts with my daughter, and utilized some of the suggestions. In just a short time, my daughter and I have had full discussions about her brain development, and remarked how I "understand her" now. My daughter has expressed how she realizes she has impulses and does not like the lack of control. Understanding that it is her brain developing has gave her a sense of relief, and she has begun to read this herself in hopes to understand how she is growing. The subject matter on the brain is endless, and neurology is such an amazing field. I enjoyed the facts and statistics, and liked how it stayed on topic. In each of these chapters there was potential to take it in so many different directions with regards to the brain. I was quite impressed that such a complex subject matter was creatively articulated for both parents and medical professions. I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it for anyone who is raising a teenager.

This was an amazing read. Very insightful and full of useful knowledge. I needed this for a class and we read most of the book for one of my psychology courses. I would recommend for anyone who has a teen in their life.

I bought this book to read when my teenage grandson was having some behavioral and emotional issues. I read it myself and then got him to sit with me while I went back over it and showed him some key points on the developing teen brain and the effects of maturing of the brain through puberty. It was all I myself could do to help him through this period in his life. He didn't exactly share my enthusiasm at the time but sat and listened anyway. I think it helped him and we still joke about those times to this day. He's now 23 and doing fine. I still remind him every chance I have to mind his frontal lobes to which he smiles and lets me enjoy the moment. He's doing well now thank goodness. I WISH SO MUCH that public high schools would teach a course on the information in this book. It would more than likely help many teens AND THEIR PARENTS to get through the turbulent puberty phase.

Must buy there are al lot of books on learning yourself but this is genuine written by a doctor

A fascinating and accessible journey through the neuroscience of the teenage and young adult mind. The book is aimed at helping one understand the challenges and difficulties that young people may encounter as their brain develops and matures. Although it does not offer strategies or advice on how to deal with the inevitable challenges of raising teenagers, it's a really enjoyable read and one that I suspect one would come back to again and again as a reference source. Although the author says in the introduction that she wrote the book for both parents/carers and teenagers it's undoubtedly written for the former. A version of this great book written specifically for teens and young adults would, I think,be great, and help them both understand and better deal with the challenges of growing up.

Wonder why young people so often make so foolish choices? The teenage brain is NOT an adult brain. It does not reach maturity until you're about 24 years old. It's only very recent scientific breakthroughs applied to understanding the teenage brain that we now know this definitively. The implications for our society are vast. This is an amazing book. The author is a Harvard-trained MD, and now head of neurology at Penn, one of the most prestigious universities in the US. She is clear, sites real, well-documented studies, and supplements the science with her own experience raising her sons. She then puts what we're learning about their still-developing brains into the context of teenage and young adult life. This book blew my mind. It is an accessible, compelling read. I give it the highest recommendation.

Now I understand much better why my teenage daughter acts like she acts and can better deal with the different situations.

Good book! Gives you a scientific explanation of why your kid is actually not crazy. It explains the adolescent brain development and gives you a timeline of when you should see the light (spoiler alert: when he is 26(!!!) years old!) I couldn't figure out how my straight A son who is a university student now could do so many outrages things or couldn't figure out some very common sense things. The book explained it clearly.