Customer Reviews

Promise You Won't Freak Out: A Teenager Tells Her Mom the Truth About Boys, Booze, Body Piercing and Other Touchy Topics

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't typically leave feedback on books I read but I found this book simply outstanding. I read a lot of parenting books but I found the approach of parent and kids responding very refreshing and enlightening. I learned a ton, was shocked a lot, but feel better prepared to deal with my 2 sons (ages 12 and 14). I loved Doris' questions at the end of every chapter and have used several with success. Even though it is co-authored by a girl, it was very applicable to those of us who only have sons. Thanks for an excellent book and innovative approach to a topic every parent with teens needs to know.

Written with a fine sense of humor and remarkable candor, "Promise You Won't Freak Out" provides entertaining and informative reading. The writing is wonderful, crisp and clear; the information, though sometimes frightening, is priceless for parents and useful for the rising teen; and the illustration of communication between teen and parent is heartwarming and encouraging.

The authors skillfully hide sound, sage advice and information in delightful anecdotes that depict a teen's mindset and a parent's ability to survive it. At the end of each chapter, Doris and Natalie offer "Conversation Starters," questions to help parent or child broach subjects such as sex, booze, drugs, etc. Doris (the mom) occasionally weighs in with secrets of how she acts as a "guerilla mom" to break the teen code of silence.

A few parents may choose not to believe the frank description of some actions and thoughts of today's teens while some teens may wish that their parents hadn't read it at all! But parents and teens alike will find "Promise" an unforgettable, sometimes hilarious, and always enjoyable adventure.

As the mother of two teen girls and reader of many "advice to moms" books, I have to say this is one of the best. The "mom wisdom" of Doris Fuller is balanced by the engaging teen voice of Natalie. So that's what teens think when they're about to ...(fill in the blank)! Older son Greg Fuller also adds an interesting dimension. While one book can't possibly cover all the issues parents of teens might face, this one handles some of the major ones with frankness, wit and insightful, practical advice.
It's also just a fun read! If you've been looking for a new perspective on raising a teen daughter, definitely buy this book.

After reading "Reviving Ophelia", "Queen Bees and Wanna Bes", and "Odd Girl Out", I have to say that this book was the most helpful (and the least scholarly). I make no judgments on the relationships between these two attributes, but this book offered the most practical advice. My daughter is 12, so a lot of the information is yet to come into play, but I feel better about having it. I especially enjoyed the discussion of parents who are in denial that their darling daughters would ever do such things. There's a lot of that thinking going on among the parents of my daughters friends, and it's good to hear someone keeping it real.

This is a commonsense yet fresh (and sometimes shocking) book about one family's experience raising a teenager. Teen Natalie and her mom Doris take turns weighing in on subjects like partying, friends, school, divorce, sex, and lying. The book is a page-turner and stays lively all the way through. Natalie's older brother, age twenty and living away, adds his insights and by the end of the book we feel we know the family well and we like them. Throughout, Doris is a picture of a reasonable parent yet not so superlative that anyone won't feel incapable of trying out her methods. Natalie's take on things is very perceptive and candid.

If only for the sections called CONVERSATION STARTERS near the end of each chapter, this book is worth buying if you want help.

"Anytime I head into uncharted conversational territory with my teens, I try to start by asking what they think rather than telling them what I think. After all, I already know what I think, it's them I'm trying to keep up with," Doris writes in the chapter entitled "Sex, Period." Good advice for any relationship.

This book is terrific. Fascinating, provocative, funny, entertaining, wise.
I couldn't put it down. The alternating voices of mother and daughter give it a liveliness and an energy that captivated me utterly. This is stuff for which all moms (in particular) should have an inexhaustible appetite.

The authors do a sensitive and compelling job of communicating the drawbacks of many of the questionable behaviors that are discussed. Any parent who shares it with their teen will send a clear signal about the value of open communication,

Finally, a book that reflects the way I want to raise my soon-to-be teens, but I didn't know it! I'd read several books, all of which didn't touch a nerve until this one. It also helped me to realize it's time to connect up with other non-judgmental guerilla moms.

I don't want to put my teens in a bubble, and then be in denial whenever the bubble bursts behind my back. Instead, I want to weather their teens with them, keep an open dialogue to a reasonable degree, and maintain my composure in their presence. How else can they develop their judgment than by some experimenting coupled with accountability and a parent to talk to? This parenting approach is not for the faint of heart, as it requires objectivity and self-honesty, but I'm ready. It also requires confidence that you've instilled good judgment in your kids.

It's a relief to finally have a way of thinking about raising teens that works for me.

Wish I'd had this book earlier in my parenting. I learned a tremendous amount, but the biggest value was in ideas for conversation starters with my teens. I tried a few suggestions and was amazed at the discussions that followed. I left the book on the kitchen table during a teen party and the kids zeroed in on it immediately, particularly the chapter on sex (no surprise there!) I have made gifts of the book to my younger sisters, telling them it is an easy read, well written, and packed with useful information and suggestions. Read this book if there are teenagers in your life.

If you haven't managed by now to keep your teen so busy with dance,
soccer, piano lessons, church, etc. that they come home so tired they
will not want to go out with their friends, then you'd better read this
book.  Not only is it easy and fun to read, it also gives great advice
on how to communicate with your teen, and even better, how to get your teen to communicate with you.
I have 2 little girls, and upon reading the book, I realized I needed to start paving the way to their teen years NOW in order to be ready when their hormones kick in.
I believe "Promise..." will help a lot of people.

"Promise you won't freak" out is book with great characters considering all of them are real. That is right, a teenager is putting her, and her close friends and family's lives on a plate for you to eat up. There is a lot of flavor on the plate that she is handing us including the first two most racy topics you could think about talking to a teen on. Sex and drugs. Well those are just two of the many juicy chapters. The setting changes from time to time but is set in common day, as in 2004. It teaches, parents, and teens alike new vocabulary, most of which is rated R. But if you can put up with the views of an over-protective mother, and her rebellious teenagers, Greg (in collage now) and Natalie, then this is a pretty good book.
It moves along quickly but it's content makes it so that you keep looking over your shoulder to make sure that the person behind you does not see that word that you just read. It kind of makes you feel guilty when you are sitting in the back of your car with your mother driving, and she asks you about the book you are reading as glance up learning the definition of an even more interesting word from the chapter titled Sex Period, and your reply is "oh, just a teen novel!" I must admit that it is educational. Not just the sex and drugs part about it either. It tells you how to start conversation with your mother on hard topics, and how to handle the stress of teen-hood.
I have gotten to know and love Natalie, not always agreeing with her decisions, but still seeing her point of view. Every mother and daughter should read this book together. Aside from dreading the fact that my mother now knows the Web sites for security programs that e-mails her every time any obscene language or Web site is used on my account (not that I ever would) thanks to Nat's mother, it helped me reach a level of understanding with her. Now every time I go to school, I will be more aware: More aware of the new language that my supposed best friends are pushing on me, more aware that any second I might have to refuse drugs, more aware that I am now a teenager, and that I have no choice in the matter of whether I should grow up or not, because it's happening right now.