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First Person  

Non-Fiction

239 Pages

Few topics are more difficult for parents to discuss with their daughters than dating and relationships.  Due to their lack of knowledge about the world their teens face coupled with the scant dating information they received as teens, many parents feel ill-equiped to guide their daughters through the minefield that is teen dating.

In The 10 Myths of Teen Dating, this father and daughter team combines the latest scientific research with poignant, personal stories to help parents engage their daughters in wise conversations. Weaving in solid biblical truths with practical application and discussion starters, Daniel and Jacquelyn seek to equip parents to teach their daughters how to date for today … and tomorrow.

The premise sounded interesting, although it wasn’t something I especially wanted to read. I have been curious about the subject though because I know a lot of teens who date and the rational behind it never made complete sense to me. Then I found out that the author of this book co-wrote it with his daughter, and that impressed and intrigued me. And, after watching a short interview with them, I was like “Hey! I want to read this!” and so I did. 

Just to be clear before we start: I’m not a fan of teenage dating, or dating just for fun, *but* if y’all are in that setting, then I highly recommend this book. 

This book wasn’t at all what I was expecting. The author says in the intro that he’s a Christian, but it’s not a Christian book, and it’s not necessarily written for Christians. (Although biblical principles do leak onto the writings.) The author has been a high school teacher for over twenty years, and he’s gained tons of insight into what all goes on, and has walked hundreds of teens through difficult times. Mr. Anderson wrote this book hoping that parents would take up the ball and begin having needed conversations with their daughters so that they wouldn’t have so many troubles and heartaches. (Let me take a moment here to say that Mr. Anderson sounds like a totally amazing guy and exactly the kind of person I would have as my teacher if I had grown up in public school with absent parents. Way to go, Mr. Anderson! I also really appreciated Jacquelyn’s honest and insight. Her parts really made the book more relatable and helped link the facts in numbers with reality.)

The book is obviously serious and has some heavy topics, but it was also written in a way that is easy to read and understand. There are tons of facts, scientific discoveries, and averages and percentages talked about in the book. We get to learn about how our brains develop and why people react to certain situations the way they do. The book makes modern teen dating trends make a lot more sense. There were a couple of chapters that I only skimmed because I don’t feel the need to know all the information right now, but for parents I can see how it would be incredibly enlightening and helpful. 

I didn’t agree with everything the authors said, but that’s to be expected. Overall though, the good info far, far out weighed what I disagreed with. And, I very much appreciated how the book was a father/daughter team effort. 

As I said before, if you have a daughter of dating-age (or even if you are a dating teen), then this book should probably be on your to-read list. 

I’m giving The 10 Myths of Teen Dating 4 stars out of 5, and 8 stars out of 10. 

*I received this book free from Litfuse*