A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence

by Patricia Hersch

For three fascinating, disturbing years, writer Patricia Hersch journeyed inside a world that is as familiar as our own children and yet as alien as some exotic culture--the world of adolescence. As a silent, attentive partner, she followed eight teenagers in the typically American town of Reston, Virginia, listening to their stories, observing their rituals, watching them fulfill their dreams and enact their tragedies. What she found was that America's teens have fashioned a fully defined culture that adults neither see nor imagine--a culture of unprecedented freedom and baffling complexity, a culture with rules but no structure, values but no clear morality, codes but no consistency.

Is it society itself that has created this separate teen community? Resigned to the attitude that adolescents simply live in "a tribe apart," adults have pulled away, relinquishing responsibility and supervision, allowing the unhealthy behaviors of teens to flourish. Ultimately, this rift between adults and teenagers robs both generations of meaningful connections. For everyone's world is made richer and more challenging by having adolescents in it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Education, Psychology, Parenting, Cultural, High School

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book because I am a medical student considering adolescent medicine as a specialty. I found the stories of the kids in to book intriguing, and the analysis concerning how adults can better understand and relate to teens enlightening. The author's conclusion that adolescents are a tribe apart not of their own choosing, but because parents, teachers and other adults don't form a strong social network for teens cuts to the heart of many of the problems adolescents face today. Being an adolescent is never easy, and I agree that young people deserve our support and admiration, not only our suspicion and condemnation.

[Emil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not going to give away any spoilers, but I strongly suggest every adult with younger children read this book.

One idea that I want to iterate is this: Your kids are listening to you, but they do want to figure things out for themselves. They will behave in ways that seem contradictory to your norms. Don't let that get to you.

I recommend this book.

[Zack]

Excellent and empathetic ethnography of adolescents in Reston, Virginia in the mid 1990s. I loved it. But it helps that I grew up in Reston and all the kids she wrote about were just a few years older than me.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is somewhat outdated since the research took place in the early 90s. Some of the elements of the secret teenage life that may have at the time been shocking are really no surprise in 2008.

That being said, it is well written. It's clear the author went to great lengths to do her homework and really did get to the heart of things with the teens she followed. The stories themselves are fascinating and sometimes disturbing. If you are a parent who remotely cares, they will hopefully make you feel good about your own parenting skills if nothing else.

I think her assertion that we are pushing teens into their own independant sub-culture is right on. I'm also on board with her suggestion that some of that is based on the unique experiences of parents who were teens themselves in the 60s.

It's not necessarily the entire point of the book, but people who have multi-generational relationships, inside or outside of the family, are in my opinion much more balanced and have a greater perspective on things.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book written about kids from my high school! How could I not read it?!

This book is a study on adolescents from Reston and how their stories relate to adolescents across the United States. I loved this book for many reasons. First, because its my home town. I know the places she talks about and even had many of the teachers mentioned, so that's totally exciting. Second, because she is a journalist and I aspire to be one. And the third reason goes along with the second. With each detail that she wrote, the journalist in me loves her writing style. Lastly, I love reading about non-fiction books about people lives. So if you like non-fiction/study kind of books, I highly recommend it. If not, this is not the book for you.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a book club years ago and found it fascinating. The author spent a long time with her subjects, following many of them through their whole high school careers. She gained their trust and really put effort into remaining an observer rather than becoming part of the story herself. I read it when I was about 15 years out of high school and it was interesting the similarities and differences with my high school experience. You really felt the impact of two-career families and divorce more strongly than I remember it being in my high school years. I did not have kids at the time, which might change how I would feel about it now.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very intimate look into the lives of a handful of teenagers. It is amazing what intimate access she was granted by these high-schoolers into almost every facet of their lives. She paints a very vivid picture of these students and draws several conclusions from it. She tried to find similarities that would be the most universal throughout adolescent culture (at least in the U.S.), but it would be interesting to see if they would all hold up in different demographics: Other geographical areas, small towns instead of the large city, etc. I'm also curious how much has changed with the onset of cellphones and social media.

[Farrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started out as nothing more than assigned reading, but it ended up being so much more. The author does an amazing job of infiltrating the world of adolescents. Each person that she follows has their own great story that highlights all of the torments of junior high and high school. Teen pregnancy, suicide, racism, poor parenting, promiscuity, drug use, star athletes, the Homecoming parade: no topic is off limits or too trivial in these kids' lives. No matter who you were in high school, you will find at least one kid in this book that you swear you knew, or you were.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patricia Hersch spent 3 years paying attention to teenagers and then wrote about them. I think the idea that we as a society don't pay enough attention to or spend enough time with our teenagers is valid. Our society is very stratified by age and I don't think that's healthy for anyone. The book paints a picture of how things were for a group of kids in suburban Va in the mid-90's. I wonder what she would learn doing the same thing today.

[CM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know what to say about this book, other than that it was not what I expected. I thought that the author did a relatively poor job of finding "normal" kids, since most of the children she interviewed were living pretty drugged up lives. I think that this book illustrated that many parents in the world today are bad parents an that their children are trying to do the best they can in their lives in spite of their parents, and doing so by doing things they shouldn't.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated this book. It is a good read for those who feel disconnected to the youth culture and want insight on the issues they face. It does not necessarily relate to every student since it was written about students in the DC area, but it will make you open your eyes to the needs and issues in the lives of students around you.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times heart-wrenching and upsetting, it is an important book for parents and others who are involved in the lives of young people. I am thankful that my own children navigated their adolescent years with the loving hearts of teachers and coaches at their Christian schools and an extended family who was always engaged in their lives.

[Gerry Durisin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took quite a while to finish, but was well worth the effort. Hersch presents the lives of eight supposedly “typical” adolescents -- each one so different from all the others -- and ends with a plea for adults to rejoin the world of children and adolescents, to connect with this “Tribe Apart” -- one at a time, and bring them back into society.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to become incredibly frightened about the world we have created for our young people? Read this book. A damming critique of our American baby boomer-centric culture and the children who have been neglected, if not forgotten, by it.

[jenna]

Boooring. What annoys me about this book, or at least the 2 chapters I read, is that people read this to know what this foreign "tribe" of adolescence is. WHY DON'T YOU JUST LISTEN TO TEENAGERS! So the book just comes off like some "otherizing" ethnography. Too annoyed to complete.

[Peter Krol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a troubling study of the lives of teenagers in our generation. Troubling in that they simply aren't getting what they're looking for: people who care about them. It really encouraged me to be actively involved in my kids' (and others) lives as they grow.

[j.elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Study of the social structure or "tribes" found in the youth of today. Well done study which follows a group of students from different groups like goth, skater, jocks, etc. through middle school and the societal pressures they were coping with. Excellent book for parents and teachers to read.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. This book really grew on me. At first I didn't like it and almost stopped reading it.

[Momm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every parent and teacher should read this book.

[Mary C. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do teenagers so often seem like a different species?

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

i am reading this for my teaching diverse populations class for extra credit. so far it is alright. nothing to scream about

[Sienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look into tteenage life.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very rarely don't finish books - this one is one of them. The idea is exciting, but the story is boring.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another youth development book. Definitely a must read if you work with adolescence. Hersch does a great job of capturing a more emic perspective than most "youth" books.

[John Hoag · Rating 3 out of 5]

A peek into the suburbia of middle-class teens -- at that time.

[Jonathan]

None

[Carrie]

sociology

[Paula S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this before my kids were all fully engaged in adolescence and I found it fascinating. It's a view in to their world.

[Mary Kay]

I think I need to find time to read it. Maybe as I am waiting for the new D Gabaldon book.

[Daniel Brockhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book is now 20 years old. Still a great and interesting read!