This psychological profile of young boys and their view of their world, inner conflicts and how they process feelings was so interesting. Pollack’s writing capturing the complexities of male adolescence validated my memories of struggles I now see as normal and have more empathetic mow now than I had before. Great book.

Revelatory book. A real insight into how boys process emotional milestones and what parents/caretakers and teachers can do to minimize the damage that can happen. And it can happen quite a bit. From society's homophobic fear of boys' longtime close friendships to the "toughening" that boys are pushed to endure at young ages, it details with clarity--and sometimes redundancy--why boys need help, and how to give it. Loved it, and as a stepmother to a teenage boy, it resonated. The book has stories from real boys, with frank discussions and examples. From young boyhood to adulthood, this book covers all kinds of emotional hurdles that boys encounter on the way to manhood, and how we as parents can minimize the mixed messages about what being a man in American means to us, and how we can support them the way they really need it.

An impressively thought-out discussion on how contemporary culture is doing a surprising amount of emotional damage to growing boys. Extensively researched and sourced, and Dr. Pollack deftly avoids falling into the easy trap of blaming music, movies, or video games.

This book is too dated to be helpful. Written in the 90s, it reads like it’s the 1950s. The author seems to have a very limited view in boys, too. Not worth picking up.