This book is a very valuable supplement to Dr. Blos's previous writings. He presents the history and therapy of two preadolescents, a girl and a boy. Susan began therapy at the age of eight. Treatment was terminated when she was thirteen. Ben was twelve years old when treatment started. It terminated when he was fifteen. Previous to therapy both children had failed to achieve an adequate latency phase. With the resolution of inadequately solved conflicts at that level, it was possible to trace the psychological changes that heralded maturation to the next typical phase of growth, early adolescence.

In evaluating the material, Blos integrates the case-specific formulations with his theoretical concepts of maturational advancement into adolescence. The opportunity he thus provides to observe the multiple lines of development offers a clearer concept of progression