Coming of Age

A leading expert in adolescent psychology transforms our understanding of this most formative life-stageAdolescence is the most dramatic and formative period of our lives. It is when we become who we are, when the smallest things can have life-long effects. But it is also full of contradictions, making it bewildering to live through and widely misunderstood. We may struggle to understand the adolescents in our lives, but most of us have yet to come to terms with our own adolescence.In this expert, empowering book, Lucy Foulkes draws on the latest research and in-depth interviews to demystify adolescent behaviours - friendship, risk-taking, sex, love, bullying and more - and expose the surprising and often moving reality beneath them. We see that teenagers are far more conservative than rebellious; that apparent recklessness is often calculated and risk-averse; that popularity is a mixed blessing even as friendships can be a life-changing good. We understand why social hierarchies are so fiercely policed, even while adolescents have an extraordinary capacity for empathy and mutual support; why appearances are overly important, and why rejection at this age hurts so much. We see that even the most difficult experiences are part of this essential and life-shaping process of self-discovery.If our identities are a story, then the crucial first draft is written in adolescence. Coming of Age helps us read that story with clarity and compassion so that we can appreciate the adolescents we know but also those we once were - those wild and fragile people who helped us become who we are.

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
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 -- Patricia Nicol 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 -- Lucy Denyer 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 -- Kate Womersley Observer
A myth-busting . . . eye-opening guide to the psychology of adolescence . . . delivers many counterintuitive insights -- David Shariatmadari 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
This is a must read for everyone interested in what is going on with adolescents. Scientific findings are discussed incisively and illuminated with real life accounts of adolescent joys and sorrows. This book is full of insight and compassion -- Essi Viding, Professor of Developmental Pyschopathy, UCL

Dr Lucy Foulkes is an academic psychologist. She is currently a Prudence Trust Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, where she leads research into adolescent mental health and social development. She is the author of What Mental Illness Really Is (and What It Isn't) and has written for the Guardian, New Scientist and other publications. Her work has been discussed on BBC 2's Newsnight and reported in The Times, Economist, New York Times and Atlantic, and she has appeared on BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind and Start the Week.

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