What do you think?
Rate this book
By David L. Marcus What It Takes To Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out [Hardcover]
Millions of parents struggle to grasp what goes on in their kids" heads, on their computers, and among their friends. As an education correspondent for U.S. News he discovered astonishing crises and surprising truths. He focuses on four remarkable kids who run the demographic a southern girl whose privileges cannot save her from sinking into drug abuse and unsafe sex; the self-destructive son of teachers grappling with his anger about being adopted; a black kid from a tough New York neighborhood who is silenced by consuming depression; and a once high-achieving Florida girl broken by the death of her mother. While uncovering what drove these kids and their parents to Swift River, Marcus opens the black box of the teenage mind. As he reveals the intense, dramatic process that sets most of these kids right, he weaves a taut, absorbing tale and charts a path to hope that any kid, any parent, can take.
Hardcover
First published January 14, 2005
3 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
David L. Marcus
4 books2 followersDavid L. Marcus is the author of What It Takes to Pull Me Through, a look at the secret lives of teenagers, and Acceptance, a narrative about a diverse group of students applying to college. He has worked as a high school teacher, education writer, and foreign correspondent. He won a Pulitzer prize in 1995 for a series in the Dallas Morning News about violence against women worldwide.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 3, 2010
Some people like mysteries. Others like the rush they get from horror novels, the kind for which Stephen King is famous. Me? I can't remember the last time I picked up a novel from either of these genres. Why? Because I get my kicks from worrying myself sick about the nightmarish hell certain to unfold as my sons hit adolescence.
I expected to love this book.
I did love this book for many reasons, most of which I expected. The two reasons I liked it most, however, I didn't expect:
1.) After reading this book I feel like I better understand why teenagers get in trouble, as promised by the subtitle.
2.) Because of that, I feel like I better understand what I can do as a parent to HELP ensure that my kids will not fall off the deep end during their high school years and beyond.
I was fully wrapped up in the stories of the teens portrayed in this book. I was impressed by the way the author took himself out of the story despite being immersed in it. I loved learning the details of these kids' lives. I loved that the author managed to present the facts without drawing conclusions. I was happy to read this story from the perspective of a parent and a journalist rather than from a "professional" in the therapeutic boarding school industry. I loved being a fly on the wall at the Swift River school and in the homes of the teens who attended.
I highly recommend this book. Warning: Because the stories in the book are true, it's very hard to stop thinking about these kids. Even the long epilogue wasn't long enough to satisfy my curiosity about how they are doing today.
I expected to love this book.
I did love this book for many reasons, most of which I expected. The two reasons I liked it most, however, I didn't expect:
1.) After reading this book I feel like I better understand why teenagers get in trouble, as promised by the subtitle.
2.) Because of that, I feel like I better understand what I can do as a parent to HELP ensure that my kids will not fall off the deep end during their high school years and beyond.
I was fully wrapped up in the stories of the teens portrayed in this book. I was impressed by the way the author took himself out of the story despite being immersed in it. I loved learning the details of these kids' lives. I loved that the author managed to present the facts without drawing conclusions. I was happy to read this story from the perspective of a parent and a journalist rather than from a "professional" in the therapeutic boarding school industry. I loved being a fly on the wall at the Swift River school and in the homes of the teens who attended.
I highly recommend this book. Warning: Because the stories in the book are true, it's very hard to stop thinking about these kids. Even the long epilogue wasn't long enough to satisfy my curiosity about how they are doing today.
April 8, 2015
I recently read Sisters in Sanity, which is a YA novel that takes place in a sort of boot-camp boarding school for troubled kids. Early on, one of the characters says derisively that Red Rock (the school) doesn't take kids with serious problems—it doesn't want the liability.
I had mixed feelings about Sisters in Sanity, in large part because there wasn't a ton of nuance. In What It Takes to Pull Me Through, though, we get a lot of nuance. Better, it's nonfiction. Better still, it's written by a journalist—that is, somebody without a particular agenda or point; somebody with limited bias. (While writing, the author says on page 319, ...I had to set aside my affection for these folks. I'd feel like a nicer person if I airbrushed all the blemishes from the portraits, but this book wasn't about being nice. It was about letting readers learn from the mistakes that parents and kids make.)
Swift River—the school examined in this book—makes the same choice that the fictional Red Rock does: to take in only students for whom they think they have a chance of making a difference. They're not set up for kids with serious personality disorders or autism or big physical disabilities. And it does seem that they have a chance at helping the kids they do take in—although, as the book goes on, it becomes clear that that may be less because of Swift River and more because...well, because the kids weren't getting the basics before. Not so much bad parenting as some really obvious voids: Take Mary Alice, whose parents agree that she can have a going-away party, tell her there can't be rowdiness or pot...and then go upstairs to bed (15), leaving Mary Alice to her own devices. Or Bianca, who as far as I can tell had received no counselling since her mother's death and no help whatsoever after other traumas. In Tyrone and D.J.'s cases, it seems to be that the system has failed them—I have mad respect for Tyrone's mother, but Tyrone has been written off by his public school (no problem if he's truant, but let's officially keep him in school so that the school doesn't lose money; he's not violent or in trouble with the law, so clearly depression isn't a problem), and D.J. (for the most part) just seems ill-suited for an academic environment where he has to sit still for hours on end.
So it's complicated. On the one hand the author does present it as quite a nurturing environment; on the other hand, there are comments like this: After working in base camp and on campus for three years, he [a gym teacher] had come to believe that when Swift River succeeded, it was simply because kids matured. "But the school can't tell parents it's just a matter of maturation. Otherwise, who is going to pay eighty grand? The parents would feel like they're being ripped off. (289)
For the most part Marcus focuses on the students, but he brings in other players as well—teachers and administrators and therapists. (I will note that—though I might have missed it—I never saw an indication that there was individual therapy, only group therapy, which seems something of an omission.) He touches on, occasionally, the impact that working in such an environment can have: Of Gennarose, an English teacher, he says She'd kept it [anorexia] in check for a while, but in the past couple of weeks she'd had a relapse--partly because she sat in group therapy with Mary Alice and other girls who were fixated on their weight (108). That's very nearly the last we hear of that, though I'm not sure whether that's by the author's choice or because Gennarose put a lock on her own information after that. (That particular tidbit came out of a conversation that Mary Alice forced rather than being something that Gennarose shared freely.) Makes me wonder how Gennarose fared throughout the rest of the year, and also how other adults reacted in that environment.
It's a fourteen-month programme, more or less, after which the students are sent back home to sink or swim—with somewhat predictable results. Although the author describes the outcome (for lack of a better word) of one of the students as a 'shocking twist in [the student]'s life' (306), it is far less shocking for having seen how, and sometimes why, each person was struggling. Despite the book's subtitle, there isn't a shiny, tied-with-a-bow happy ending at the end of the fourteen months; the reality is more complex.
I had mixed feelings about Sisters in Sanity, in large part because there wasn't a ton of nuance. In What It Takes to Pull Me Through, though, we get a lot of nuance. Better, it's nonfiction. Better still, it's written by a journalist—that is, somebody without a particular agenda or point; somebody with limited bias. (While writing, the author says on page 319, ...I had to set aside my affection for these folks. I'd feel like a nicer person if I airbrushed all the blemishes from the portraits, but this book wasn't about being nice. It was about letting readers learn from the mistakes that parents and kids make.)
Swift River—the school examined in this book—makes the same choice that the fictional Red Rock does: to take in only students for whom they think they have a chance of making a difference. They're not set up for kids with serious personality disorders or autism or big physical disabilities. And it does seem that they have a chance at helping the kids they do take in—although, as the book goes on, it becomes clear that that may be less because of Swift River and more because...well, because the kids weren't getting the basics before. Not so much bad parenting as some really obvious voids: Take Mary Alice, whose parents agree that she can have a going-away party, tell her there can't be rowdiness or pot...and then go upstairs to bed (15), leaving Mary Alice to her own devices. Or Bianca, who as far as I can tell had received no counselling since her mother's death and no help whatsoever after other traumas. In Tyrone and D.J.'s cases, it seems to be that the system has failed them—I have mad respect for Tyrone's mother, but Tyrone has been written off by his public school (no problem if he's truant, but let's officially keep him in school so that the school doesn't lose money; he's not violent or in trouble with the law, so clearly depression isn't a problem), and D.J. (for the most part) just seems ill-suited for an academic environment where he has to sit still for hours on end.
So it's complicated. On the one hand the author does present it as quite a nurturing environment; on the other hand, there are comments like this: After working in base camp and on campus for three years, he [a gym teacher] had come to believe that when Swift River succeeded, it was simply because kids matured. "But the school can't tell parents it's just a matter of maturation. Otherwise, who is going to pay eighty grand? The parents would feel like they're being ripped off. (289)
For the most part Marcus focuses on the students, but he brings in other players as well—teachers and administrators and therapists. (I will note that—though I might have missed it—I never saw an indication that there was individual therapy, only group therapy, which seems something of an omission.) He touches on, occasionally, the impact that working in such an environment can have: Of Gennarose, an English teacher, he says She'd kept it [anorexia] in check for a while, but in the past couple of weeks she'd had a relapse--partly because she sat in group therapy with Mary Alice and other girls who were fixated on their weight (108). That's very nearly the last we hear of that, though I'm not sure whether that's by the author's choice or because Gennarose put a lock on her own information after that. (That particular tidbit came out of a conversation that Mary Alice forced rather than being something that Gennarose shared freely.) Makes me wonder how Gennarose fared throughout the rest of the year, and also how other adults reacted in that environment.
It's a fourteen-month programme, more or less, after which the students are sent back home to sink or swim—with somewhat predictable results. Although the author describes the outcome (for lack of a better word) of one of the students as a 'shocking twist in [the student]'s life' (306), it is far less shocking for having seen how, and sometimes why, each person was struggling. Despite the book's subtitle, there isn't a shiny, tied-with-a-bow happy ending at the end of the fourteen months; the reality is more complex.
January 6, 2009
read this along w/ shouting at the sky...they are both part of the same umbrella program (Aspen Education). i have actually read this book more than once, which is unusual for me, and which should indicate how much i like it.
March 13, 2018
This was okay. It offers some interesting thoughts and perspectives, but I found it long and written in a confusing way.
July 28, 2023
I had a difficult time rating this book. It's well-written and researched, and the author is ethical and intentional when profiling the four main characters (Bianca, Mary Alice, DJ, and Tyrone). His chapter notes are meticulous. However, he never critiques the school's questionable counseling methods, nor does he critique Rudy Bentz, a controversial figure in the troubled teen industry to say the least. In fact, on his LinkedIn, Bentz mentions that he "assisted in the writing of [the] book."
February 23, 2009
A fascinating examination of a therapeutic boarding school in western Massachusetts called the Academy at Swift River. The author spends four years getting to know the "troubled teens" who come to the school and the families who pay vast amounts to send them there. The book focuses primarily on four teens who are part of peer group 23, a small group of students who go through the 14 month program together. The author does a good job portraying the pressures and struggles faced by teens in contemporary America. I thought that it was very well-written, although I always wonder with books like this what the experience is like for the teens who are featured.
February 7, 2011
This is another well-written book by David Marcus that has pulled me in by the strength of his narrative and the real-life characters he is describing. Excellent read with insights into different parenting styles and the choices kids make while they are growing up and grappling with their circumstances.
July 11, 2007
As a counselor, this book was interesting on so many levels, and I am generally not a fan of non-fiction. The kids profiled were so real and difficult but you really understood them. I found myself really wanting to get to the end and find out how they ended up doing in the real world.
May 3, 2010
I enjoyed the book a great deal because I liked following the lives of a bunch of messed-up teenagers. I didn't really feel like I learned a lot that I can apply, however. I would definitely recommend it for someone who was worrying about his/her own teenager, though.
July 10, 2010
I don't read nonfiction, but this was really thought-provoking. It's slightly dated now, but it's interesting insight into the troubled teens between my generation and the ones now. I still believe in residential (boot-camp) style programs for teens after reading this. Maybe more-so in some ways.
October 8, 2012
A really insightful account into four teenagers' perspectives. An an honest follow up after they complete the Swift River program. It leads by mistake (and example) to help parents strengthen their relationships with their teens so that they can help them navigate their own lives.
July 5, 2015
Interesting and compulsively readable book about the experiences of several teens at a therapeutic boarding school. As a mental health professional, I'm not sure about some of the "therapy" techniques used but I did find this book hard to put down.
October 25, 2013
Made me glad I'm not a teenager, and (maybe) that I'm not a parent.
February 9, 2016
it's a really god book it has different stories about teen's having difficulties through out their life.
April 20, 2007
A great look into the world of at risk teens and those that try to save them.
June 24, 2008
* This book contains strong language
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews