GROW THE TREE YOU GOT

A wonderfully written and wise parenting book that presents a "golden book of rules" for parenting adolescents and teens that will inspire and encourage parents.

Strict, autocratic parenting was recently in the spotlight thanks to Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. GROW THE TREE YOU GOT is a brilliant counter-argument. Central to Tom's message is that you cannot show your teens too much respect, but it is worth the effort to try. When Tom Sturges became a father, he wanted to be the greatest father who ever walked the earth. Sturges' own father (the legendary writer and director Preston Sturges) died when he was three years old. Without that role model in his own life, Sturges could only imagine what it took to be a great dad. Things became a bit more complicated than he had expected when his older son turned twelve and the chatty, often exuberant boy he'd known suddenly started locking his bedroom door. Tom felt he needed to find a way to stay "on track" . . . he needed crib notes. So if a parenting idea or technique worked well, he wrote it down. And if he stumbled across something another parent did that was particularly ingenious or exemplary, he wrote that down too. In this beautifully written and inspiring book, Sturges presents his "golden rules" for raising happy, healthy, and compassionate adolescents and teenagers. It is a road map for parenting through the extraordinary though often tumultuous journey of the adolescent and teenage years. Tom Sturges is the father of three sons, ages nineteen, thirteen, and two, and is Executive Vice President and Head of Creative for Universal Music Publishing Group. His work as a coach, mentor, and teacher with at-risk children at an inner-city Los Angeles public school has affected the lives of hundreds of students. Sturges has received many commendations and citations from civic and national leaders for his volunteering. His work with thirty-eight members of the Foshay Learning Center Choir in South Los Angeles was the topic of the award-winning documentary Witness to a Dream. He is the author of Parking Lot Rules & 75 Other Ideas for Raising Amazing Children.