Masterminds And Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope With Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends And The New Rules Of Boy World

"I have a boy, and although I gave birth to him and love him dearly, I sometimes look at him and wonder what alien spaceship dropped him off. So the minute I heard that Rosalind Wiseman was writing a book about boys, I knew I was getting it. (Wiseman also wrote Queen Bees And Wannabes, which inspired the film Mean Girls.)  This book explains so many of the things boys cannot, or will not, explain for themselves. It is based on solid research and, just as important, on the accounts of her “informants” — a diverse (or so she says) group of boys who agreed to answer her difficult questions truthfully. Although I felt at times she glossed over many of the very real racial and class differences that inform the way boys are seen and treated (stop-and-frisk, anyone?) I found much common sense and immediately useful information. Wiseman employs a researcher’s eye, a journalist’s sharp and accessible hand, and a mother’s heart. A rare combination indeed."