The Secret Lives of Boys

Inside the Raw Emotional World of Male Teens
by Malina Saval

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Teenage boys have come a long way since the staid 1980s when they were all lumped into the Breakfast Club categories of Brains, Druggies, and Jocks. Crisscrossing the country -- meeting with boys from different cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds -- journalist Malina Saval introduces readers to the next generation of...
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Published By Basic Books

Format Paperback

Category

Number Of Pages 272

Publication Date 08/24/2010

ISBN 9780465020324

Dimensions 6.25 inches x 9.25 inches


Allison Burnett, author of Undiscovered Gyrl
“With the objectivity of a sociologist and the compassion of a saint, Malina Saval takes us on a journey into the hearts and minds of teenaged boys, letting them do what our society rarely does: speak for themselves. The trip is painful, funny, frightening, hopeful, and, ultimately, unforgettable.”

Andy Behrman, author of Electroboy
“Malina Saval's vibrant writing style and fascinating journeys into the lives of ten young boys provides parents with extremely useful information about how to help shepherd kids through adolescence in the 21st century...The Secret Lives of Boys is a must-read for people looking to understand the ‘mainspring' of this demographic which we've been so quick to write off.”

Blake Nelson, author of Paranoid Park
“A fascinating and up-to-the-second survey of that most mysterious segment of our population: teenaged boys.”

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“Through Saval's keen observations, we're allowed to meet 10 teenage boys who are complex, insightful, thoughtful, optimistic and resilient. You can't learn that from test scores.”

Booklist
“Saval's well-edited portraits reflect real-life's nuances and messy contradictions and offer a refreshing, often-optimistic sense of male teens' strength and resilience.&rdquo

Boston Globe
“Malina Saval has been called ‘The Boy Whisperer' for her skill at getting teenage boys to open up (we need her at our house).”

Library Journal Xpress Review (online)
“Saval introduces us to ten very different teenage boys and makes a compelling case for the so-called problem with adolescent males being not the boys, but an overreliance on statistics and norms to tell their stories.”

New York Times Book Review
“[R]eal, funny and astute.... Parents, teachers and especially teenage girls will be fascinated to know that boys care about fashion, cry about girlfriends and have deep feelings. More important, they might see aspects of themselves reflected in these stories and realize, as I did, that boys aren't so mystifying ­after all.”

 
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