What Do You Say? How to Talk with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home

At some point after the sixth grade, the same kid who asked why non-stop at age four suddenly stops talking to you. And the conversations that you wish you could have suddenly feel nearly impossible to execute. Johnson and Stixrud show how to engage in respectful and effective dialogue, beginning with defining and demonstrating the basic principles of listening and speaking. Then they show new ways to handle specific, thorny topics of the sort that usually end in parent/kid standoffs. -- adapted from jacket