As the mom of a former teen, I felt I was well equipped to handle teenage-hood again when it reared its ugly head as my youngest turned 13. Boy was I wrong! Why does this phase of life take so long? For those of you not yet there, here is what it’s like: Imagine being in the midst of the terrible twos for six very long years. The only thing I know for certain is that at the end of the line, there actually might be an adult that will start believing that I may know a thing or two about life and that I will eventually start liking again. So it was with some hope that I picked up 35 Things Your Teen Won’t Tell You, So I Will by Ellen Pober Rittberg (Amazon or turnerpublishing.com).

Ellen is a writer, attorney, award-winning journalist and mother, who survived raising three teens—all born within a three-year time span. She formerly hosted and produced “The Changing Family”—a live cable TV show and has contributed to the New York Daily News, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and several other large daily newspapers.

Everyone has their own methods of parenting, but author Ellen Pober Rittberg's unorthodox; outside-the-box methods are soothing to the war-torn souls of adults caught in the onslaught of adolescence. After all, laughter is the best medicine, right?

Ellen told us, “I hope readers will come to regard this book as a tool in the parent arsenal for days when a parent feels like they are on a steep cliff, the canteen fell into the ravine, and there are no ropes other than the tether- which the parent may very well be at the end of!”

Ellen isn’t afraid to broach topics that other parenting books may avoid, such as “If your teen doesn’t let you know their whereabouts, hunt them down!” or “Use that important tool in your arsenal: disappointment and disapproval.” All written with a certain flair of humorous affectation.

Her voice is strong, sentimental and refreshing and we think she summed it up in her ever so witty way by adding, “Your teen’s aim is to suppress the information flow, and yours is to make it flow like the Mississippi River after a flood.”

If you want to learn how to dig deep, survive and perhaps even crack the psyche of your hormonal, temperamental, ever-changing teen you may be interested in this light-hearted, mini-manifesto of practical, pragmatic parenting advice.

Simply: You have a teen or know someone who does, check out this book.

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