WHY DO THEY ACT THAT WAY: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain For You And Your Teen by David Walsh, PH.D.

Publisher Free Press/Simon & Schuster, August 2004

Even smart kids do stupid things. It’s a simple fact of life. No one makes it through the teenage years unscathed-not the teens and not their parents. But now there’s expert help for both generations in this groundbreaking new guide for surviving the drama of adolescence.

In WHY DO THEY ACT THAT WAY? nationally renowned, award-winning psychologist Dr. David Walsh explains exactly what happens to the human brain on the path from childhood into adolescence and adulthood. Revealing the latest scientific findings in easy-to-understand terms, Dr. Walsh shows why moodiness, quickness to anger and to take risks, miscommunication, fatigue, territoriality, and other familiar teenage behavior problems are so common-all are linked to physical changes and growth in the adolescent brain.

"Dr. Walsh is a teacher, scientist, therapist, and parent and all of these roles enable him to deliver a powerful, practical book on the teenage brain. Usually when I study the brain, my eyes cross and I fall asleep, but Walsh is a storyteller with the gifts of simplicity and clarity. This book is an easy read, but its message is fresh, nuanced, and important. I recommend it to all parents who ask themselves, "Why do they act this way?"
-- Mary Pipher, Ph.D., author, Reviving Ophelia