It’s hard to believe Spring Break is less than two weeks away. Whether you’re staying home or travelling, we’ve got the book list for you... the 8th grade team at DSST: Byers Middle School put this list together specifically for parents, and it addresses many of the frequent questions that parents often wonder about their adolescent students. Check out their top 8 book recommendations for parents of middle and high school aged kids:
1. The Boy Crisis - Warren Farrell & John Grey
What is the boy crisis? It's a crisis of education. Worldwide, boys are 50 percent less likely than girls to meet basic proficiency in reading, math, and science. It’s a crisis of mental health.
2. The Teenage Brain - Amy Ellis Nutt and Frances E. Jensen
Drawing on her research knowledge and clinical experience, this internationally respected neurologist—and mother of two boys—offers a revolutionary look at the adolescent brain, providing remarkable insights that translate into practical advice for both parents and teenagers.
3. Dare to Lead - Brené Brown
Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead.
4. The Leadership Challenge - Barry Posner and James Kouzes
Based on Kouzes and Posner's extensive research, this all-new edition casts their enduring work in context for today's world, proving how leadership is a relationship that must be nurtured, and most importantly, that it can be learned.
5. The End of Average - Todd Rose
The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average—like GPAs, personality test results, and performance review ratings—reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we don’t even question it. That assumption, says Harvard’s Todd Rose, is spectacularly—and scientifically—wrong.
6. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria - Beverly Daniel Tatum
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy?
7. Brainstorm - Daniel J. Siegel
If parents and teens can work together to form a deeper understanding of the brain science behind all the tumult, they will be able to turn conflict into connection and form a deeper understanding of one another.
8. Surviving Your Child’s Adolescence - Carl Pickhardt
Does it sometimes seem like your teenager is trying to push you over the edge? Learn what your child is going through and what you can do to help your teen navigate this difficult period in this practical guide from psychologist and parenting expert Carl Pickhardt.
Do you make books lists (for kids or adults) in your free time? Do you want to make an impact on the future of Denver’s kids? Come work with us! Learn more and explore our available positions here.