ABSTRACT

Most of us live double lives. There is the part we show in public, and there is the person on the inside, that private individual with the proclivities, stresses, dreams, and behaviors that we hide from prying eyes. The teen years are the perfect storm when the truth is lived in a more transparent manner than at any other stage of life. In The Secret Life of Teenagers, Calvin White, a high school counselor of more than twenty years, shares those inner, hidden lives. Accompanied by powerful artifact writings and artwork, it is recommended reading for parents, teachers, counselors, and all who work with youth. All the challenges teenagers face are opened up as they are experienced—loneliness, sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug-abusing parents, peer pressure, identity crises, suicide, and bullying. As well, White incisively examines the public school system, its searing flaws that encumber teens with drudgery, and its potential to uplift and to counteract the negative forces of the day.