It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Coming of Age

Coming of Age

How Adolescence Shapes Us

Summary

Adolescence is the most misunderstood period of our lives. Coming of Age draws on a decade of expert research to get beneath the stereotypes, expose the myths and reveal the real reasons why teens behave the way they do.

Covering all the characteristic behaviours of adolescents - from peer pressure and risk-taking, to sex, love, bullying, friendship and more - adolescent psychologist Lucy Foulkes shows that time and again we mistake, dismiss and even try to prevent what is actually normal and healthy. Among many surprising insights, she explains why self-consciousness, anxiety and sensation-seeking are crucial features of this developmental phase. She shows that teenagers are socially conservative as much as rebellious, and that apparent recklessness is usually calculated. She reveals why being popular can be just as hard as being lonely, and why friendships at this age shape us for life.

Adolescence is often difficult, sometimes extremely so, and most of us have yet to come to terms with our own. And yet Foulkes shows that adolescents have an extraordinary capacity for resilience, empathy and mutual support, and that even the most challenging experiences are part of an essential process of self-discovery. This is why understanding adolescence is the key to understanding ourselves.

Reviews

  • 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

About the author

Lucy Foulkes

Dr Lucy Foulkes is an academic psychologist. She is currently a Prudence Trust Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, where she leads research into adolescent mental health and social development. She is also an honorary lecturer in psychology at UCL. She is the author of What Mental Illness Really Is (and What It Isn't) and has written for the Guardian, New Scientist and other publications. Her work has been discussed on BBC 2’s Newsnight and reported in The Times, Economist, New York Times and Atlantic, and she has appeared on BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind and Start the Week.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more