The early years of adolescence are a tumultuous time, full of challenges and opportunities that can shape one’s whole life. In recent years several books have analyzed this period of life for girls, but this is the first book that investigates the interior life of boys as they develop their sense of self and begin the spiritual journey that will carry them throughout their lives. The authors contend that adolescent boys often experience themselves at various times as losers, loners, and rebels. As self-defined losers, boys begin to realize self-awareness; as loners they begin to understand their own relatedness to the larger world; as rebels they gain a sense of self-sufficiency. Through these common experiences of life, boys gain self-awareness, self-transcendence, and self-sufficiency, concepts that take root in the spirituality that will last their lifetime.
Robert C. Dykstra is the Charlotte W. Newcombe Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. He is the author of several books including Images of Pastoral Care and Counseling Troubled Youth.
Allan Hugh Cole Jr is Academic Dean and Nancy Taylor Williamson Professor of Pastoral Care at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. He is the author of several books including The Life of Prayer: Mind, Body, and Soul and Good Mourning: Getting through Your Grief