Coming of Age

Compelling, useful and fascinating . . . revealing its unwritten rules and some really vital insights

Jo Brand

Lucy Foulkes’s wonderful and deeply moving book shows us the potentially positive aspects of adolescent experiences so often seen as negative. You will almost certainly find yourself reassessing your own teenage years

Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

I loved this book. Lucy writes so thoughtfully and movingly about this uniquely challenging and exhilarating period of life – to help us better understand and support our teenagers, and as adults, to give our own teenage selves a break.

Polly Waite, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford

Wise and compassionate, well-researched and straight-talking - Lucy Foulkes shows with stories and with science why the teen years are so intense, and how today's adolescents can be helped to flourish in life

Dr Gavin Francis, author of Recovery

This is a compelling read, deploying an engaging combination of narrative and science to make important points about a much misunderstood and maligned age group

Tasmin Ford, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Cambridge

The adolescent years are probably the most dramatic period in human life, and yet they are still the least studied. Lucy Foulkes is an ideal and compassionate guide to unlock this secret world

Uta Frith, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development, UCL

This is a must read for everyone interested in what is going on with adolescents. Scientific findings are discussed incisively and illuminated with real life accounts of adolescent joys and sorrows. This book is full of insight and compassion

Essi Viding, Professor of Developmental Pyschopathy, UCL

Offers a refreshing lens on adolescence as a profound developmental period that shapes how we become, and understand, who we are. This book is essential reading for researchers, parents, professionals, and anyone seeking to better understand themselves

Ola Demkowicz, Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education, University of Manchester

Captivating and novel, providing valuable insights into the physical, psychological and emotional changes that teenagers navigate

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, author of Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain

Beautiful writing and robust science rarely travel together; they do so in this remarkable book by Foulkes who will guide you through the complex world of adolescence and its science

Argyris Stringaris, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCL

Comprehensive, accessible, and super useful

Dr Tara Porter, Clinical Psychologist and author of You Don't Understand Me

A myth-busting . . . eye-opening guide to the psychology of adolescence . . . delivers many counterintuitive insights

David Shariatmadari, Guardian

Excellent and insightful . . . As an academic psychologist at Oxford University who has been studying adolescent cognition for more than a decade, Foulkes is steeped in knowledge about, as well as respect for, teenage life. She expertly marshals clinical research, both classic texts and recent findings, interlaced with moving accounts from people . . . who open up about their formative years . . . It’s worth getting adolescence right because it doesn’t ever go away

Kate Womersley, Observer

Thank goodness . . . for this timely . . . and eminently sensible book . . . You will read this book and sigh in recognition . . . just knowing that everything they – and we – struggle with is normal, and necessary, is helpful

Lucy Denyer, Telegraph

A wise and compassionate book, and moving too ... I imagine I might want to reread this book when my own children become teens. But for now, I found it helped me better understand my own awkward adolescence ... Once we better understand the psychology of these awkward, in-between years we can start to be a bit kinder towards our awkward, in-between selves. And who wouldn't want that?

New Statesman

A refreshingly clear-eyed description of the forces shaping adolescent behaviour and emotions . . . teens are often viewed through a lens of judgement or morality . . . but you will find none of that here. Each short chapter is cleverly punctuated by often-moving interviews . . . Foulkes delivers a positive message . . . an eye-opening read for anyone who knows a teenager, or who has been one

New Scientist

Expertly distilling academic research into readable insight peppered with fascinating, moving case studies, Foulkes offers a clear-eyed, unerringly sensible and sympathetic survey of adolescence . . . there is insight and kindness throughout this book

Patricia Nicol, Daily Mail

Hopeful, inspiring . . . leaves you with a greater understanding of your own adolescence, and greater compassion for those currently in its throes

Camilla Nord, author of The Balanced Brain

Keeping in mind the complexities of mental health and adolescent development doesn’t equate to dismissing adolescents’ pain. She’s right: the nuanced approach she adopts can help us support them more fully, becoming able to find more accurate, individualised words to fit and describe their experiences . . . One of the book’s greatest strengths is Foulkes’ ability to move the focus away from viewing adolescence as a period that should terrify us. Instead, she presents it as a time of learning, growth, liveliness, and self-discovery . . . it’s also filled with stories with which we can identify and, somewhere, find ourselves . . . a pleasure to read

Maria Papadima, Journal of Child Psychotherapy