I read this because I teach 7th grade and I'm teaching a research writing unit on brain development - so unlike my few other 1-star reviews, I actually read the whole thing.I'll paraphrase each chapter for you: "My children are great. Here's some science. Here's a completely unresearched anecdote I heard from somebody that relates to the science. My children are great because I talked to them. I'm great. Also, drugs are bad mmmkay."I'd also suggest an alternate title: The Upper-Middle Class Teen...

This is a book about trying to understand adolescent behavior by learning about adolescent brain development. She cites a number of studies and includes anecdotes from her life as well as her acquaintances'. It began with a general overview about how brains develop in the adolescent years and how teen brains are very different from adult brains. Then she dove into a DARE-esque portion where she gave as many reasons as she could why drug use is a terrible idea for teens. Super interesting, if not...

I'm a teacher switching grade levels, so I found this quite helpful, especially since I am a newcomer to much of the material. I found her explanations of what's physically going on in the brain throughout adolescence super helpful in making a foundation for the style of teaching I intend to adapt as I switch grade levels, and providing the immediate reference to point to if anyone has any questions as to why I do what I do. (I've since found a few other books that essentially say a lot of the s...

I tried, I did. I just couldn't. Jensen knows a lot about Neuroscience. I believe her on that one. But I'm really concerned whether she actually paid attention to what she wrote here, or whether she (and/or her ghostwriter, if she had one) just summarized statistics from a powerpoint.It's a pity, because this could have been a really useful, interesting book about how our brains function and how they function on adolescence. But once she gets out of the functional parts, and into the parenting p...

The question of whether my 14 year old son was a narcissistic pathological liar or was just experiencing immature teenage brain syndrome was running rampant through my mind as I wandered through Barnes and Noble last week when this book appeared on the New Reads table with what seemed divine intervention. I didn't even question the price- which is not the way I shop in a retail book store, ever. I found myself experiencing different opinions as I moved through the chapters. At first I was fascin...

I heard about this up-to-date book about development and neuroscience of the adolescent brain on a radio interview. I would recommend the book because the research data is current and relevant and thought-provoking, but I found that the book was repetitive (links to the frontal lobe not yet developed) and provided too much case study about the primary author's own family. The book first provides an overview of brain biology and physiology and is then well-organized into chapters about topics suc...

Obviously every chapter in this book could have it's own book but the author pulls out just enough information on each topic to be helpful to parents and share some interesting anecdotal stories to illustrate the points presented.Certain chapters drew more of my attention. There's a history of alcoholism and mental illness in my family and so my fear that my children will at some point struggle with these issues may be higher than other parents. The neurological and statistical information in th...

I skimmed this, so you can take my review with a grain of salt. However, I can say that it really seemed the author does not understand the difference between correlation and causality. Also, while she shares plenty of horror stories, and plenty of desperate letters that parents send to her, she has very few solutions or advice, other than "talk to your children." I was going that anyway, thanks very much.

Completely terrifying. The author clearly details teens' increased susceptibility to tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, hard core drugs, stress, gambling, internet addiction, and concussion. In addition, she explains how neurological consequences of these dangers are magnified for adolescents. Basically, it's a wonder any of us lived into our twenties. My cortisol levels reached unhealthy levels while reading. Thank god I'm not pregnant, as I would have permanently damaged my fetus's brain, as Jensen

You have to work pretty hard to screw up a pop science book, but this fails on all fronts: basic science (HS stuff) presented as new and complicated, useless anecdotes (one reads books by neurologists for science, not for crap like "I received an email from a parent who said their child was going crazy"), screaming privilege (I'm guessing not all readers know that feeling when you have a lesson with a tennis or golf pro and disappoint yourself when you play the next day), and a condescending aut...

The Teenage Brain gave a broad picture of brain development during adolescents and young adults. As a parent, I find this book useful to a certain degree. Different brain regions have different development schedule. A human brain is not fully wired until mid-twenties. Prefrontal cortex is the last developed region in the brain, hence teens' risk seeking behavior and impulsiveness. Teen's lack of thinking is rather "not able to pause and think" instead of "not having the ability of logical reason...

Terrifying. While the subtitle touts the book as a "survival guide" to teenagers, in reality the author gives very little advice other than "be involved." More than half of the book is devoted to discussing how teenagers' brains are more susceptible to addiction than adults' brains and then Ms. Jensen goes into detail about all the ways teenagers can ruin their lives forever: drugs, alcohol, sex/pornography, video games, etc.There's little help offered--"be involved" is hardly new advice. The me...

When I was pregnant with my fourth child, I saw a doctor who asked the ages of my older children and said, "You're going to have teenagers forever!" Even the thought of it clearly exhausted him, and I suspect he had at least one teenager himself.That said, I love teenagers. I love them more now than when I was one because I was someone whose asynchronous brain development made me make different teenage mistakes than were typical -- and I didn't have much sympathy for the typical ones.This book e...

Eye-opening book on the teenage brain, and human brains generally. It will downright change the way we view teenagers and kids. An absolute 'paradigm-shifter’.Frances, a neurologist herself, showcases the scientific evidence on how teenage brains are substantially different than adult brains in many ways. Putting time to understand the differences will place both adults and teenagers in a better position to acknowledge and reconcile the differences and how things are viewed by both of them.Sleep...

Lots of great information, but short on practical strategies.

A bit too sciency for my taste, but I learned a lot about the my students.

This is perhaps the worst parenting book I've ever read. This book is not just bad; this book is dangerous. It is dangerous because it is filled with terrible advice misleadingly wrapped up in the cloak of scientific certainty. While Jensen may be a brilliant neuroscientist this book is filled with meaningless anecdotes intended to scare parents, wildly misguided parenting advice that is not based on neuroscience or any science (except maybe reductive behaviorism), and an unhealthy focus on maki...

A friend recommended this book and I'm so glad that she did. Yes, I knew that teenagers' brains developed slower than parents would like, but I didn't know how exactly and which parts developed first. After reading this book, I have a much better understanding of the development of the teenaged brain.I liked the fact that she covered what is involved as a child becomes a teenager not only with the brain, but a bit about the hormonal changes, too. She then goes on to discuss learning; sleep; risk...

Excellently written outline of how the teenage brain is not fully developed, has a higher propensity for addiction and risk taking, and has very high plasticity. When you combine these elements it leads to many complications for both adolescents and the parents that raise and guide them. Jensen carefully outlines how these factors present both opportunities and challenges related to decision making, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, technology, risky behavior, sexuality, mental illness, and crime. Jensen...

This is a good primer on the brain and its development through adolescence. There are chapters on sleep, stress, alcohol, sports and other relevant topics to navigating the world of being a teenager. The illustrations help the reader better comprehend the material. There is a lot of work cited based on animal experiments which is sometimes difficult to swallow. If you are sensitive to this issue, be aware. There isn't anything too graphic, but it is where a lot of the research thrives. This will...

As mentioned in many of the other 1 or 2 star reviews this book was not at all what I expected. As the mother of teen and tween daughters I was looking for actionable advice or helpful information in navigating modern day teen life and emotions. Instead what I received was sanctimonious preaching, scare tactics and a lot of privledge. I understand that drugs, cigarettes and alcohol affect the brains of teenagers differently than adults but did we need to spend more than 50% of the book on that?N...

I gave this three stars but that might be a stretch for me. Honestly I DNF’d this book 70% in because I just didn’t like it. Some of the info is truly helpful and interesting. But the author and her writing style was not to my taste. I also think that if you are hoping for more info on how to understand teenagers from a psychological standpoint this is NOT the book for you. This is primarily neurological info.

The author was interviewed on the KQED Forum show: Neuroscientist Explores the Contradictions of the Teen Brain .

It's very scientific, but it's an eye opener .. it's useful specially with this generation teenagers who like to have the answers for "whys" when you want to convince them why they should or shouldn't do the thing. Highly recommended ❤️

Parents and teachers: read this book and say it with me, "It's not personal; it's just adolescence!"

It was definitely about the brain

In seeking to understand my own children, this book has proven immensely insightful. The first part is quite scientific and explains the biology and chemistry of the brain and all its components, while simultaneously taking the reader through the brain’s development cycle from inception up to the teenage years. Against this neuroscientific backdrop, the book then takes a chapter on key topics that impact teenagers including sleep, mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, sports concussion and the

Review copy provided by Harper Collins Publishers NZ via Booksellers NZ.The teenage brain? What sort of word trickery is that? Well, all logic tells you there is a brain of course, nestling inside the head of that child of yours, but it is not a brain, Jim, as we know it. And that is the totally bizarre thing about teenagers - after all we were all one once angst ridden, tormented, self absorbed, idealistic, misunderstood, unloved - so you think we would have no problem some years down the track...

The Teenage Brain by Frances Jensen grabbed my attention right away. Who doesn’t want to gain wisdom about the most baffling time of life? As a high school teacher, it’s important for me to understand my students in order to best connect with and teach them. This book helped me recognize how to do this on a different level. Since the author is both a neurologist and the mother of two boys who have been through the teenage years, she offers both insight as well as practical advice on how to handl...

Frances Jensen (no relation) is a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania medical school. She explains that teenagers’ brains are still developing, increasing white matter connections between the lobes until the mid-20s. Many typically teen behaviors – mood swings, impulsive actions, lack of foresight – are biologically based, and they are not related to hormones so much as the incomplete structure of the brain. Individual chapters address sleep, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, risk-taking, etc,