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Adolescence is the most enriching but also the most perplexing time of one's life. A book which could lighten the burden of this period of life for the adolescent as well as his parents is badly needed. The adolescent is caught in the dilemma between the forward pull of physical and psychological maturing, and regressive tendencies to relive his past. How severe an adolescent's turmoil will become cannot be predicted from his past experiences. If his childhood was characterized by regression and fixation, adolescence cannot be easy, but it may provide for him a second chance. Harmonious childhood is by no means necessarily insurance against untroubled adolescence.
Dr. Lorand oversimplifies when she infers that if a child receives enough 'proper' love his adolescence will be uncomplicated. The genetic and physiological 'givens' do not justify such reasoning, and they are not taken into account by her. Unfortunately, therefore, many parents will react to this book with unjustified, intense feelings of guilt and erroneously find themselves in a hopeless predicament: 'My adolescent child is troubled, and I am to blame because I did not give him the "proper" kind of love in childhood'.
Rhoda Lorand is well acquainted with child and adolescent development. It is therefore surprising that she thinks the adolescent who is engaged in the struggle of freeing himself from his original love objects will want to read about it in a book which is written for him and his parents. He needs a book of his own and that is one