MASTERMINDS AND WINGMEN

“Rosalind Wiseman, who so insightfully explained the world of girls in Queen Bees and Wannabes, has done it again. This book is a powerful exploration of the inner life of boys, which is far more complex than many parents and educators may realize. Wiseman reveals the unwritten rules boys must both abide by and try to overcome, and she helps parents understand boys’ reactions, as well as their own. This is an essential guide – not just for parents but anyone who wants to better understand their own childhood and its impact.” — Anderson Cooper

Rosalind Wiseman’s Queen Bees and Wannabes, a massive bestseller and the basis of the hit film “Mean Girls,” upended assumptions about how teenage girls relate to one another. But lost in the attention was an equally important and vulnerable group: boys. Less prone to talk about their feelings and stereotyped as settling every dispute with a fistfight, boys face social issues that have long been ignored as an important key to understanding their behavior. So Wiseman, a mother of two boys, decided to pull back the curtain on “Guy World,” working collaboratively for two years with middle-school and high-school boys to explore their own complicated, emotional world. What she learned is fascinating, and critically important for all of us to know. Now, Wiseman is sharing her findings in Mastermind and Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World (Harmony Books; On-Sale September 10, 2013), a vital roadmap for parents, teachers, and leaders to better understand boys and provide the critical support they need to succeed and be happy.

Research shows that boys are struggling in the United States. Boys commit suicide at five times the rate of girls, do worse in school, have more social problems, and are less likely to attend college. Boys feel pain and need support just as much as girls do – but they’re far more likely to hide their feelings, claim everything is “fine,” and believe that adult involvement will only make their lives worse. We owe it to our boys to break through communication barriers so we can recognize what their dealing with. Mastermind and Wingmen helps expose boys’ thoughts on everything from cliques and social hierarchy (dominated by “mastermind” ringleaders and adjutant “wingmen”), to dealing with lying (research shows that 96% of all kids lie to their parents), to social networking (few things are more valued and important in guy world, and few things cause so much anxiety and conflict in parent world), to problems with girls (Rosalind explores boys thoughts on everything from heartbreak to “friends with benefits” to pregnancy).

There is a vital need for us to understand how to better understand and talk to boys, and Mastermind and Wingmen provides the tools to build our relationships with boys to help them develop a more positive, authentic, strong sense of self.

ABOUT ROSALIND WISEMAN

Rosalind Wiseman is an internationally recognized expert on children, parenting, bullying, social justice, and ethical leadership, and the New York Times bestselling author of Queen Bees and Wannabes and Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads.