FOR YOUNG MEN ONLY: A GUY’S GUIDE TO THE ALIEN GENDER

FROM CHRISTA: As some of you may already know, I have been teaching high school for over twenty years, with a thirteen year gap in there to be a full-time mommy. Point being, I’ve spent more time in the company of teens than I have in the company of …hmmm…my husband…but that’s another story.

When I received information about this book and this blog tour, I was cautiously excited. Few books are available for boy angst, and most of the ones that are tend to deliver a message that is either too lofty or too snarky. So, the possibility of a book that would speak to the boys I see struggling daily to be simultaneously invisible and popular hooked me.

If you’re not the a parent of teen boys or, like me, around them [mostly while they're in the company of teen girls] over eight hours a day, then spend a Saturday hanging out in a mall.You’ll realize in 3.2 seconds why this book is important.

Every year, and I’m never sure which conversational road I’m veering off of that leads me there, I ask my girl-students, “Come on, be honest, which of you would have dated Bill Gates in high school?” And every year I suggest they re-think the nerd/geek population because, ultimately, those are the guys who’ll be husband potential. Some of the uber cool chicks roll their eyes, flip their high and low-lighted hair, and go back to taking visual notes of clothing options in the classroom.

Also every year, I will teach those boys I describe as, “The kid you want your daughter to bring home, but you know she never will.”

What I like about For Young Men Only (FYMO) is that it reinforces the notion that ordinary is anything but when measured against what really matters in a relationship and in life. Jeff and Eric said that more than 1,000 girls provided input for the book. That’s impressive. The girls’ survey responses are included throughout; I like that. The last chapter, entitled”What It Really Means to Score,” discusses sex, delivering five “sex truths” about issues I’ve [over]heard in classes more times than I care to think about. The authors deal with this topic as they do with all the others in the book–with humor, honesty, and hope.

This is a book I will place on my student reading shelf; that’s the highest recommendation I can provide. It’s authentic stuff that speaks to teens. The cartoons/drawings seem to be for a younger audience, a bit dated even, but they’re intended to be funny–so even if readers laugh at instead of with them, they’re still laughing. [I POSTED A MUSIC VIDEO FROM THEIR SITE AFTER THIS REVIEW. DON'T MISS IT!]

FOR YOUNG MEN ONLY: A GUY’S GUIDE TO THE ALIEN GENDER

Drawing on a fresh national survey of 600 teen girls, as well as hundreds of personal interviews, For Young Men Only reveals the real truth about what teenage girls think, what they want, and how average teen guys can build healthy friendships with high quality girls. Full of surprising revelations and practical advice, For Young Men Only delivers help straight from the girls themselves in a fun, easy-to-read, easy-to-talk about format.

CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE: HERE

The best-selling ONLY series returns with a one-of-a-kind guide for teen guys on how to figure out girls

Jeff Feldhahn

Jeff is a lawyer and entrepreneur who lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Shaunti and two little squirts, a girl and a boy. Jeff is the founder and President of World2one, an Internet company that he believes will make folks forget about Facebook. Jeff, who grew up in a small town in Michigan, is a graduate of the University of Michigan—Flint and Harvard Law School. A few bits of trivia about Jeff are that, before his final year of law school, he rode his bicycle all the way from Michigan to Boston. And during that final year, he ate a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream every night at 10:00 pm while studying for classes.

Eric Rice

Eric Rice is a veteran film and video director/cameraman/writer. He is also a small-town Texas boy that grew up fishing, shooting BBs at neighbor’s dogs, swimming in a snake-infested lake, and living for the Fourth of July. Eric has a Bachelor of Science degree in Video and Film from a Christian University, which makes him well-qualified to watch TV and wreck it for anyone else in the room as he points out the foibles and continuity errors. (Don’t watch a movie with him either.)

Eric married way over his head with Lisa, a beautiful, talented writer that has co-authored books with Jeff’s wife, Shaunti. Lisa keeps Eric’s “inner 14 year old” from blowing up the house. Eric manages his sanity by shooting firearms, Scuba diving, filming in high-risk locations, and working on his son’s dirt bike.

Eric also has three beautiful daughters who have contributed a LOT to the book and music video, which he produced.

Eric’s hope is that teen guys will not make the same dumb mistakes he did (all revealed in the book) but rather listen to what the girls have to say and act on it. Eric says: “There are wonderful girls out there waiting for a guy who’s taken the book to heart.”