This is absolutely a book I would recommend to anyone with sons, male students, nephews, boys they coach, anyone who may be a role model to a boy. But I do have a couple criticisms I just want to bring to the attention of potential readers. First, this book should be titled Discovering the Emotional Life of Boys, because it offered very little in terms of practical application. Though I would say, just getting into the heads of boys, especially troubled boys, creates an empathy that is lacking in our culture for boys of all ages. And in my opinion this is a good first step. A second criticism is that, having been written fifteen years ago, it tends to focus solely on the nuclear family despite growing numbers of non-traditional families. This may make it less helpful, I would live to see an updated version with newer studies being reflected.

I often look at boys and men and believe them to be emotionally impenetrable, even as I know this to be false. The authors don't attempt to try to change the world but instead carve out places in the world boys live in to make positive changes in how they grow emotionally. As a woman sometimes it doesn't feel enough but as they explain how we got where we are, these small steps may very well make a huge difference as each generation of men are able to learn to appropriately deal with their feelings. I thought the book held a good balance, at times it may make the most liberal or the most conservative among us flinch, trying to hold boys/men accountable while also creating understanding to move forward.

Maybe because it’s dated but it felt like a lot of anecdotes and no real advice… I’d be agreeing in my head… yes this is something to address and then leave me feeling anxious about a situation with no real practical strategies on how to talk to my son or even deal with it… in pretty much every single chapter. I feel enlightened in all the challenges raising a hot now but feel completely I’ll-equipped to deal with anything. I feel like the overall advice is “hope you can afford to send them to good therapists”… I cannot recommend this book sadly.

Lots of good discussion in this book about raising boys... hope I can take some of the techniques and apply to my two young boys... I would recommend this to any fathers of boys!

I read about 30 pages and wasn't that interested.

Would love to see an update of this book.

Truly the rating "it was okay" sums up my impressions. There was one lightbulb moment for me (early on the authors point out that just as people tend to ignore strength in girls, we tend to flip it and ignore vulnerability in boys - lightbulb!), but most of the book felt more like a reminder of things one should keep in mind with ANY child - not just with boys. Which is not bad to be reminded of as a new parent.

Important book, I think. Though it’s a little dated (2000) I think the content is still relevant in many, many ways. “The I my way to make a difference with a boy is to give him powerful experiences that speak to his inner life...”.

Absolutely one of the single best psychological reads I've ever perused. I am going to recommend that any and everyone who so much as comes in contact with boys read this because as a society we have been grossly miseducating our boys on their emotional experiences. It is imperative we teach boys emotional literacy if we hope to produce whole men with vast psychological resources to tap into...this cultural tide of violent, angry, disengaged boys needs to be curbed. Doctors Kindlon and Thompson begin to present a framework for how to begin to do that.