Here are a few quotes from the book we suggested reading to start a conversation this summer. We pulled a few of our favorites, and we invite you to comment with your favorites as well, or discuss the ones we have put forth here. And if you haven’t purchased the book yet,  click on the photo of the book below to go to Amazon where you may purchase it.

Pioneer educational psychologist G. Stanley Hall wrote of the powerful idealism of adolescence, and William James proposed harnessing this spirit of service to society as “their moral equivalent of war.” …This potential [is] still untapped as young people [are] crying, screaming to be used in some demanding task. P. 17

Anthropologist Ruth Benedict criticized our culture for excluding youth from responsibility only to blame them for their irresponsibility. P. 25

“Millions of children are not safe physically, educationally, economically, or spiritually….The poor black youths who shoot up drugs on street corners and the rich white youths who do the same thing in their mansions share a common disconnectedness from any hope or purpose.” Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund p. 34

Deprived of opportunities for genuine productivity, lured into consumptive roles, young people come to believe that their lives make little difference to the world. P. 39

Research suggests that successful programs involve parents as partners with professionals. But unequal partnerships are seldom effective’ this means that staff must approach parents with some goal other than controlling them or treating them as patients in need of treatment. P.89

Volunteer youth service programs are specifically designed to help young people overcome the narcissism of self-absorption. As they find they can make a difference in the lives of others, they validate their own self-worth. P.125