My Teenager Is Driving Me Crazy

Vedral ( My Parents Are Driving Me Crazy ) reassures parents that no matter how crazy their teenagers are making them, the problems they experience are universal. She tries to help parents weather the turbulence by explaining the way a teen thinks and offering strategies for getting the parental message across without alienating the child. This kind, sane perspective provides insight into an array of annoying and frustrating adolescent habits and at the same time gives families a way to cope without capitulating to chaos. Negotiations are a key ingredient in Vedral's theory:pk pk you get more from a teen, pk she argues, when you give a little yourself. (E.g., ``Frank's parents can agree to stop using the expression `You're still young' in exchange for Frank's agreement to cut down the cursing.'') Much of Vedral's advice is simply common sense, such as her suggestion to mothers who are dealing with teenage daughters embarrassed by everything they do: ``I saylinda, delete comma?galleys can be wrong/pk sure,lk continue to enjoy yourself, but be sensitive to your teen.'' But on the stormy battleground of the teenage years, common sense is not so common, and Vedral's book ably fills a niche on the self-help shelves. (Nov.)