My Teenage Were-Wolf Book Review

Having kiddos is tough stuff. Award-winning author Lauren Kessler doesn’t try and cover the trial up. In her new book, My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, a Daughter, a Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence, she instead embraces the journey and shares her story of raising an about-to-be teenage daughter.

From the first page, I was laughing. I could relate. After all, I’ve been there. The difference was it was with my sons. Even at seven and nine, my girls are feisty. Kessler takes an open and honest dialogue and gives me hope I can survive, girls. Teenage Girls. I love that she is honest. There’s no sugarcoating. She lays it on the table; there’s gonna be some bad times. Her advice centers on the experiences that come with this demise of our relationship at that moment.

I love that Kessler isn’t afraid to let humor guide the way while she shares some terrific insight into what awaits. She understands the battle of balance in Mom’s face. The reality of trying to understand a child when their hormones are in overdrive while still attempting to be the Mom who is fair and right. Even at seven and nine, I find myself facing language barriers. One minute they’re my babies, and in a flash, they are stomping and sullen.

Kessler is a champion. This book is about her journey, where for 18 months, she lives the life of her twelve-year-old daughter, Lizzie. She’s observing and, at times, participating in the world of school, the mall, summer camp. I loved it!

Right now, it’s frustrating. I’ve heard the stories of my husband as a teenager, and they make me shudder. My knees are dirty from begging that the kiddos didn’t get those genes!

This book is a must-read for anyone about to embrace the teenage years…or anyone who lived through their own teenage years. Published by Penguin, I found the 246 pages a steady read, filled with humor, insight and moments to remember.

About the Book
What’s more challenging in a woman’s life: being a teenager … or being the mother of a teenager? Just yesterday, she was a sweet-tempered, smiling little girl who thought Mommy was a saint and a genius, beautiful, beneficent, and all-knowing. Now Mom is an enemy, a barrier—or at the very least, the font of all things embarrassing and uncool. And the erstwhile Miss Sweet Pea is … a werewolf? Who is this new headstrong, mercurial, mascara-wand-waving girl? In My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, a Daughter, a Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence, award-winning author Lauren Kessler embeds herself in her about-to-be teenage daughter’s life and shares her story with the eye of a reporter, the curiosity of an anthropologist and the open—sometimes wounded—the heart of a mother.

Visit My Teenage Werewolf’s to learn more.