Making the Connection, A Guide to Medication for AD/HD, by Mohab Hanna, M.D.,2006.

Dr. Mohab Hanna a local Lutherville based board-certified Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist has written this guide for parents about the difficult decisions concerning AD/HD.  This parent guide covers many practical topics such as diagnosis of AD/HD and the complex issues surrounding medication; whether to medicate and which medications are best.  The website for this book is: www.adhdparents.com. 

 

The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges, by Daniel Golden, 2006

This Wall Street Journal reporter won a Pulitizer for his investigation into admissions practices at the most prestigious colleges.  Here he documents how top schools give far more favors to wealthy white families than to minorities, how schools like Duke, Stanford and Harvard look for kids of celebrities and the wealthy over higher achieving kids from middle income families.

 

The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, by Alfie Kohn, August 2006.

Education critic Alfie Kohn argues that most homework is busy work that neither reinforces learning nor inspires curiosity.  He argues instead that homework contributes to stressed kids and stymies evening family time, which is far more valuable for instilling a love for learning.

Ready or Not, Here Life Comes, by Mel Levine, 2005.

More than ever, young adults are struggling with career and life decisions that can sometimes seem overwhelming.  They suffer from what Dr. Mel Levine calls “work-life unreadiness,” which prevents them from making the transition to full adulthood and causes considerable anguish. Levine describes four essential growth processes and offers ways that parents and other adults can teach young adults how to make this transition effectively.  Mel Levine is Parent Network’s featured speaker in February of 2007.

 

The Overachievers, by Alexandra Robbins, August 2006.

By following the treks of college bound juniors and seniors in one of the nations most competitive high schools through three semesters, Robbins exposes the misguided stress imposed by schools, administrators and teachers, colleges, parents, and a burgeoning education "industry." Robbins also studies the outrageous competitive application process for prestigious pre-schools, and the drastic measures parents have taken to promote their 2,3 and 4 year olds. Due to some very successful marketing, our society as a whole - the students, parents and administrators - have bought into the notion of striving for a brand as our be-all end-all brass ring; moreover, a brand with mass appeal and extremely limited access. The result is that the emotional health of our families is suffering dearly. In fact, the only ones winning are the individuals and corporations who are in the "business" of education such as the education testers, tutors and book sellers. The most liberating aspect of this read is the list of actions that high schools, colleges, college counselors, parents, and students can take to change the culture of overachievement.

 

The Motherhood Manifesto: What America's Moms Want – and What To Do About It, by Joan Blades and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, April 2006.
Political activists, Blades and Rowe-Finkbeiner define the struggles of being a mother in today’s world – as a working mother and as a mother who works in the home.  They have created an inspired, motivating plan to help enable women in owning their lives – and livelihoods.  

 

You're Wearing That?  Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation, by Deborah Tannen, January 2006. 

Deborah Tannen explores the confrontational nature of relationships between mothers and daughters.  She explains why a remark that would be harmless coming from anyone else can cause an explosion when it comes from your mother or your daughter.

 

Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable than Ever Before, by Jean Twenge, 2006.

The generation that the Associated Press has deemed “The Entitlement Generation” is now entering college and the workplace. Their expectations are limitless, yet their need for esteem fulfillment is higher.  Dr. Twenge investigates this group of high achievers, harboring pie-in-the-sky expectations while living in the most competitive job and economic market in history, and the resulting artificial emotional supplements in which this generation indulges.

 

Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder, by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey, January 2005.  

These authors define ADD as a trait, a way of living in the world that only becomes a disorder when it impairs your life. Original, charismatic, energetic, brilliant people often battle ADD.  Tailored expressly to ADD learning styles and attention spans, Hallowell and Ratey provide accessible, engaging discussions of every aspect of the condition, from diagnosis to finding the proper treatment regime. 

 

The Big Book of Boy Stuff, by Bart King and Chris Sabatino, July 2004.

This playful book divulges secrets about grown-ups, girls, bullies, and other scary things. As seen through the eyes of an eight year old boy, this book is also perfect for mothers who want to understand the playful alter-egos of their boys as they become men. It dedicates roguish chapters on “gross” stuff, magic, emergencies, experiments, jokes, activities, insults, pets, and essential flying things – including how to build a rocket.

 

Covering Home: Lessons on the Art of Fathering from the Game of Baseball, by Jack Petrash, January 2001.

This book is an easy read for Dads. Full of good natured advice and wisdom, it is helpful and insightful.

 

Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads: Dealing with the Parents, Teachers, Coaches, and Counselors who can Make – or Break – Your Child’s Future, by Rosalind Wiseman and Elizabeth Rappaport, May 2006.

This book explores how and when to step in and step out of your child’s conflicts with other children, teachers and coaches.  It also describes how the way you respond to risky behavior and schoolwork affects your child.  In observing and identifying the often-ruthless over-achievement pressures that parents put on their children, Wiseman and Rappaport ask the reader to look at their own behavior in answering the question, “Who’s the seventh grader here?”

 

Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct, by P. M. Forni, November 2003.

Mr. Forni elaborates on twenty-five rules that he suggests for effective and positive connections with others. He addressed Parent Network at our Fall '04 Leadership Dinner, where he spoke of thoughtful behavior and common decency.