A lot of food for thought.

It took me a long time to get through this book. I found the first third or so to be emotionally draining; the writers are psychologists who work with adolescent boys and their stories about the difficulties young men endure were sad and upsetting. Not that I thought adolescence was easy for anyone, but I thought my two sons might be spared the cruelties that girls inflict on one another. Apparently not. Once I got through that portion of the book, I found the authors' insight extraordinarily helpful. My boys are only 1 and 3 but I already spend a lot of time thinking how I can help them navigate childhood and adolescence, and I feel as if I am starting from scratch because I am female. Raising Cain provides insight into the challenges young men face from family, peers and media, and offers insight into ways parents can provide guidance and provide a safe space for boys to express emotion in a healthy way. I know I will refer to this book often as my sons grow. I marked several passages, including ones that stress the biology of boy energy, something with which I struggle. The second half of the book deals with issues such as alcohol, drugs, sex and violence, and then the authors summarize their findings with seven principles for healthy emotional growth for boys. I highly recommend this book for anyone parenting a boy.

I might give it a higher rating after I've had more time, but my initial feeling is that it was ok. I have two young boys and while this book was enlightening on some things about boys- especially how they are just as emotional as girls but aren't always given the right words to express their feelings and thus grow up not knowing how to process their feelings and emotions- I did not walk away with lots of helpful tips and knowledge to keep in the back of my mind to use now or later on. Which is what I was looking/hoping for.

I will certainly be looking at this book once my son is a little older.

A must read for any parent of boys. As one myself, I'm committed to helping our son cultivate a healthy emotional life. Raising Cain provides insight into doing just that.

Since I just had a son two months ago, I am currently obsessed with boys. I watch boys of all ages and wonder what my son will be like when he's two, five, nine, twelve, and so on. This book gave me some idea of how boys think and feel and I hope will give me more empathy for my son as he grows. Of course I didn't agree with all their ideology, but the overall concept was one I can support--help boys feel loved and help them learn to communicate their feelings. I especially loved that they used real stories to illustrate their ideas. The "Mothers and Sons" section of the book gave me a glimpse of the kind of mother I'd like to be or not be, looking at the different cases that they gave. I would definitely recommend this book.

This book was required for a class at BYU. My biggest gripe with it was that it treated truly abused and neglected boys as normal behavior for all boys. I wonder how much my perspective would change now that I have a son. A lot of therapists have really skewed perspectives because they spend majority of their time working with people with serious problems.

"Two of the country's leading child psychologist hsare what they have learned in more thant thirty-five years of combined experience working with boys and their family. they revieal a nation of boys who are hurting--sad, afraid, agry and silent." So reads the back cover of this excellent book. This is a book that every parent of sons should read. I personally wish that I had read it years ago when my boys were younger. Even at the ages my sons are now, this book gave me some insight into what I did right and wrong as a parent. It has also given me ideas on how to go forward with my sons. I am glad that one of my daughters sho has two young sons read this, and I would hope that my other daughter, also the mother of a little boy, will read it as well. It was not necessarily a "quick read." Some of the anecdotes and cases the authors write about are difficult to read about, but the book is packed with important and compelling information for anyone who parents, teaches, or works with boys in any way. Highly recommended.