Krupp Library: Health & Wellness: Growing Up

Non-Fiction Resources about Adolescent Development

Enduring adolescence can be difficult. There are physical changes, sexual urges, social pressure, and society's expectations all at once. Oh, *and* a history paper *and* a literature test both at the end of this week. Wow! Fortunately, though sometimes you may feel alone, you aren't the first to go through it. The experience of adolescence has been well-documented, and there are many books about it. Below, you will find some of the best guides available, which will help you understand what's happening and how best to navigate it.

If you are looking for stories about high school and adolescent life, we suggest you look at the "novels" section in the "social life" tab.

Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher
Call Number: HQ798 P57
Non-Fiction.
Told in the brave, fearless, and honest voices of the girls themselves who are emerging from the chaos of adolescence, Reviving Ophelia is a call to arms, offering important tactics, empathy, and strength, and urging a change where young hearts can flourish again, and rediscover and reengage their sense of self.
Raising Cain by Daniel J. Kindlon; Michael Thompson; Teresa Barker
Call Number: HQ755 .K56 2000
Non-Fiction.
Offers insight into the behaviors and feelings of boys, examining the question of what boys need to become emotionally whole men, and arguing that American culture is forcing boys into lives of isolation, shame, and anger by suppressing their emotional lives in service to ideals of manhood.
Conquering Fear by Harold S. Kushner
Call Number: BF575.F2 K87 2009
Non-Fiction.
Drawing on the teachings of religious and secular literature and on the true stories of people who have faced their fears, Kushner helps us to see that fear can present us with extraordinary opportunities--to connect with our emotions, rethink our values, and change our lives, and the world, for the better.
Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax
Call Number: LC1390 .S29 007
Non-Fiction.
Something scary is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, American boys are, on average, less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere twenty years ago. The gender gap in college attendance and graduation rates has widened dramatically. Now, Dr. Leonard Sax delves into the scientific literature and draws on more than twenty years of clinical experience to explain why boys and young men are failing in school and disengaged at home.
Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein
Call Number: HQ 27. 5. 074 2016
Non-Fiction.
Presents an analysis of the new sexual landscape faced by girls in today's high schools and colleges, revealing hidden truths, hard lessons, and important possibilities in girls' modern-world sex lives.
How Do I Decide? by Roland B. Gittelsohn
Call Number: BJ1285.G55 1989
Non-Fiction.
Draws on the Jewish tradition to advise adolescents on making ethical decisions about death, family, sex, and other areas of life.
The Evolving Self by Robert Kegan
Non-Fiction. "The Evolving Self" focuses upon the most basic and universal of psychological problems--the individual's effort to make sense of experience, to make meaning of life. According to Robert Kegan, meaning-making is a lifelong activity that begins in earliest infancy and continues to evolve through a series of stages encompassing childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The Evolving Self describes this process of evolution in rich and human detail, concentrating especially on the internal experience of growth and transition, its costs and disruptions as well as its triumphs.
Changing Bodies, Changing Lives by Ruth Bell Alexander
Call Number: HQ 35 .B44 1998
Non-Fiction.
Openly and candidly discusses teenage sexuality and the many physical and emotional changes that occur during adolescence.
The Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy; Charles Wibbelsman
Call Number: RA777 .M33 2008
ISBN: 9781578262779
Publication Date: 2008-08-26
Non-fiction.
A handbook for teenagers discussing nutrition, health, fitness, emotions, and sexuality, including such topics as body image, drugs, STDs, fad diets and hazards and benefits of the Internet.
Supergirls Speak Out by Liz Funk
Call Number: HQ1233 .F86 2009
ISBN: 9781416562634
Publication Date: 2009-03-03
Non-fiction.
With practical advice, biting humor, and the sensitivity of someone who's been through it all, Funk's Supergirls Speak Out is the absolutely necessary companion for any girl who thinks 100 percent just isn't enough.