Secret Good Life/Teen

McBride is a psychologist who has written previously on family life (The Growth and Development of Mothers, etc.). In this book, however, it's hard to find her promised ""secret.'' The text staggers under copious quotes from other writers and McBride's unenlightening restatements of generalities. For instance, she says there is a vast difference between the child and the identity-seeking adolescent (no surprise here) who tests parental limits as a rebel in a natural period of growth. Mothers and fathers, she informs readers as though this were by news, can be daunted when a small boy or girl changes into a teenager demanding independence. No particular pointers are offered on handling crises, except in a few instances where McBride recommends that parents cultivate a funnybone and endure (some) teenage carping without striking back. Psychotherapy Book Club alternate. (August)