Coming of Age

Author Lucy Foulkes
Narrator Katherine Press
Publisher Random House
Publish Date 4 July 2024
Run Time 7 hours and 28 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Age groups: adolescents, Child, developmental and lifespan psychology, Coping with mental health issues, Family and health, Popular psychology, Popular science, Science: general issues, Self-help, personal development and practical advice, Society and Social Sciences.

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Adolescence is the most formative yet misunderstood period of our lives. At a time of heightened concern about teenagers, Coming of Age draws on a decade of expert research to get beneath the stereotypes, expose the myths and reveal the important reasons why teens behave the way they do.

Covering all the characteristic behaviours of adolescents - from peer pressure and risk-taking, to sex, love, bullying, friendship and more - adolescent psychologist Lucy Foulkes shows that time and again we mistake, dismiss and even try to prevent what is actually normal and healthy. Among many surprising insights, she explains why self-consciousness, anxiety and sensation-seeking are crucial features of this developmental phase. She shows that teenagers are socially conservative as much as rebellious, and that apparent recklessness is usually calculated. She reveals why being popular can be just as hard as being lonely, and why friendships at this age shape us for life.

Adolescence is often difficult, sometimes extremely so, and most of us have yet to come to terms with our own. And yet Foulkes shows that adolescents have an extraordinary capacity for resilience, empathy and mutual support, and that even the most challenging experiences are part of an essential process of self-discovery. This is why understanding adolescence is the key to understanding ourselves.

'Wonderful and deeply moving . . . shows us the potentially positive aspects of adolescent experiences so often seen as negative' MARK HADDON

'Excellent and insightful . . . expertly presented . . . Foulkes is steeped in knowledge about, as well as respect for, teenage life' Observer

‘Wise and compassionate, well-researched and straight-talking . . . shows how today's adolescents can be helped to flourish in life’ Dr Gavin Francis, author of Recovery

‘Hopeful, inspiring . . . leaves you with a greater understanding of your own adolescence, and greater compassion for those currently in its throes’ Camilla Nord, author of The Balanced Brain

'Myth-busting . . . eye-opening . . . delivers many counter-intuitive insights' Guardian

‘A must read for everyone interested in what is going on with adolescents’ Essi Viding, Professor of Developmental Pyschopathy, UCL

‘Compelling, useful and fascinating . . . revealing adolescence's unwritten rules’ JO BRAND

‘Comprehensive, accessible and super useful’ Dr Tara Porter, clinical psychologist and author of You Don't Understand Me

©2024 Lucy Foulkes (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

Wise and compassionate, well-researched and straight-talking - Lucy Foulkes shows with stories and with science why the teen years are so intense, and how today's adolescents can be helped to flourish in life

Dr Gavin Francis, author of Recovery

Compelling, useful and fascinating . . . revealing its unwritten rules and some really vital insights

Jo Brand

A wise and compassionate book, and moving too ... I imagine I might want to reread this book when my own children become teens. But for now, I found it helped me better understand my own awkward adolescence ... Once we better understand the psychology of these awkward, in-between years we can start to be a bit kinder towards our awkward, in-between selves. And who wouldn't want that?

New Statesman

[An] eye-opening guide to the psychology of adolescence . . . Foulkes conducted 23 in-depth interview for Coming of Age and they are by turns funny, hair-raising and desperately sad . . . They have a sort of novelistic potency . . . Adolescence may be the first draft of personhood, but it doesn't have to be the last, as the wise and revelatory book shows

Guardian, Best Paperbacks of the Month

A refreshingly clear-eyed description of the forces shaping adolescent behaviour and emotions . . . teens are often viewed through a lens of judgement or morality . . . but you will find none of that here. Each short chapter is cleverly punctuated by often-moving interviews . . . Foulkes delivers a positive message . . . an eye-opening read for anyone who knows a teenager, or who has been one

New Scientist

Expertly distilling academic research into readable insight peppered with fascinating, moving case studies, Foulkes offers a clear-eyed, unerringly sensible and sympathetic survey of adolescence . . . there is insight and kindness throughout this book

Daily Mail

Thank goodness . . . for this timely . . . and eminently sensible book . . . You will read this book and sigh in recognition . . . just knowing that everything they - and we - struggle with is normal, and necessary, is helpful

Telegraph

Excellent and insightful . . . As an academic psychologist at Oxford University who has been studying adolescent cognition for more than a decade, Foulkes is steeped in knowledge about, as well as respect for, teenage life. She expertly marshals clinical research, both classic texts and recent findings, interlaced with moving accounts from people . . . who open up about their formative years . . . It's worth getting adolescence right because it doesn't ever go away

Observer

A myth-busting . . . eye-opening guide to the psychology of adolescence . . . delivers many counterintuitive insights

Guardian

Lucy Foulkes's wonderful and deeply moving book shows us the potentially positive aspects of adolescent experiences so often seen as negative. You will almost certainly find yourself reassessing your own teenage years

Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

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