Rosalind Wiseman

Courageous Discomfort

Are you fed up with how people “talk” about race and racism? Are you scared that race is dividing us and blinding us to our shared humanity? Shanterra McBride and Rosalind Wiseman are too and they are determined to help change that by giving people the essential skills to change our most common conversations about race.

McBride and Wiseman, a Black woman and a white woman who have been friends and colleagues for over two decades, wrote Courageous Discomfort based on answering 20 common, uncomfortable-but-critical questions about racism they get asked most often.

There is no perfect solution or script for every maybe-racist, sort-of-racist, or blatantly-racist situation we can find ourselves in. But Courageous Discomfort is an empowering realistic guide that shows you how to handle whatever situation you find yourself in with skill, confidence, and dignity.

Masterminds & Wingmen

Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World

A landmark book that reveals the way boys think and that shows parents, educators and coaches how to reach out and help boys overcome their most common and difficult challenges -- by the bestselling author who changed our conception of adolescent girls.

Do you constantly struggle to pull information from your son, student, or athlete, only to encounter mumbling or evasive assurances such as "It's nothing" or "I'm good?" Do you sense that the boy you care about is being bullied, but that he'll do anything to avoid your "help?" Have you repeatedly reminded him that schoolwork and chores come before video games only to spy him reaching for the controller as soon as you leave the room? Have you watched with frustration as your boy flounders with girls?

Welcome to Boy World. It's a place where asking for help or showing emotional pain often feels impossible. Where sports and video games can mean everything, but working hard in school frequently earns ridicule from "the guys" even as they ask to copy assignments. Where "masterminds" dominate and friends ruthlessly insult each other but can never object when someone steps over the line. Where hiding problems from adults is the ironclad rule because their involvement only makes situations worse.

Boy world is governed by social hierarchies and a powerful set of unwritten rules that have huge implications for your boy's relationships, his interactions with you, and the man he'll become. If you want what's best for him, you need to know what these rules are and how to work with them effectively.

What you'll find in Masterminds and Wingmen is critically important for every parent - or anyone who cares about boys - to know. Collaborating with a large team of middle- and high-school-age editors, Rosalind Wiseman has created an unprecedented guide to the life your boy is actually experiencing - his on-the-ground reality. Not only does Wiseman challenge you to examine your assumptions, she offers innovative coping strategies aimed at helping your boy develop a positive, authentic, and strong sense of self.

Queen Bees & Wannabes

Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boys, and the New Realities of Girl World

When Rosalind Wiseman first published Queen Bees & Wannabes, she fundamentally changed the way adults look at girls’ friendships and conflicts – from how they choose their best friends, how they express their anger, their boundaries with boys, and their relationships with parents. Wiseman showed how girls of every background are profoundly influenced by their interactions with one another.

Queen Bees & Wannabes defined teen-girl dynamics and inspired Tina Fey's cult classic movie Mean Girls.

In this groundbreaking book, Rosalind Wiseman takes you inside the secret world of girls' friendships. Wiseman has spent more than a decade listening to thousands of girls talk about the powerful role cliques play in shaping what they wear and say, how they respond to boys, and how they feel about themselves. In this candid, insightful book, she dissects each role in the clique: Queen Bees, Wannabes, Messengers, Bankers, Targets, Torn Bystanders, and more. She discusses girls' power plays, from birthday invitations to cafeteria seating arrangements and illicit parties. She takes readers into "Girl World" to analyze teasing, gossip, and reputations; beauty and fashion; alcohol and drugs; boys and sex; and more, and how cliques play a role in every situation.

Each chapter includes "Check Your Baggage" sections to help you identify how your own background and biases affect how you see your daughter. "What You Can Do to Help" sections offer extensive sample scripts, bulleted lists, and other easy-to-use advice to get you inside your daughter's world and help you help her. It's not just about helping your daughter make it alive out of junior high.

This book will help you understand how your daughter's relationship with friends and cliques sets the stage for other intimate relationships as she grows and guides her when she has tougher choices to make about intimacy, drinking and drugs, and other hazards. With its revealing look into the secret world of teenage girls and cliques, enlivened with the voices of dozens of girls and a much-needed sense of humor, Queen Bees and Wannabes will equip you with all the tools you need to build the right foundation to help your daughter make smarter choices and empower her during this baffling, tumultuous time of life.

Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads

Dealing with the Difficult Parents in Your Child's Life

What happens to Queen Bees and Wannabes when they grow up? Even the most well-adjusted moms and dads can experience peer pressure and conflicts with other adults that make them act like they're back in seventh grade.

In Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads, Rosalind Wiseman gives us the tools to handle difficult situations involving teachers and other parents with grace. Reassuring, funny, and unfailingly honest, Wiseman reveals:

Why PTA meetings and Back-to-School nights tap into parents' deepest insecuritiesHow to recognize the archetypal moms and dads--from Caveman Dad to Hovercraft MomHow and when to step in and step out of your child's conflicts with other children, parents, teachers, or coachesHow to interpret the code phrases other parents use to avoid (or provoke) confrontationWhy too many well-meaning dads sit on the sidelines, and how vital it is that they step up to the plateWhat to do and say when the playing field becomes an arena for people to bully and dominate other kids and adultsHow to have respectful yet honest conversations with other parents about sex and drugs when your values are in conflictHow the way you handle parties, risky behavior, and academic performance affects your childHow unspoken assumptions about race, religion, and other hot-button subjects sabotage parents' ability to work together

Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads is filled with the kind of true stories that made Wiseman's New York Times bestselling book Queen Bees & Wannabes impossible to put down. There are tales of hardworking parents with whom any of us can identify, along with tales of outrageously bad parents--the kind we all have to reckon with. For instance, what do you do when parents donate a large sum of money to a school and their child is promptly transferred into the honors program-while your son with better grades doesn't make the cut? What about the mother who helps her daughter compose poison-pen e-mails to yours? And what do you say to the parent-coach who screams at your child when the team is losing?

Wiseman offers practical advice on avoiding the most common parenting "land mines" and useful scripts to help you navigate difficult but necessary conversations. Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads is essential reading for parents today. It offers us the tools to become wiser, more relaxed parents-and the inspiration to speak out, act according to our values, show humility, and set the kind of example that will make a real difference in our children's lives.