This book presents seventeen age-appropriate problems that have no easy answers. It begins with a chart that helps children learn the ten steps toward effective problem solving. This chart is designed to ensure a problem solver’s careful analysis of the problem and possible solutions before undertaking action. A complete introductory lesson using the plan is included, giving pre-teens and teens a real-world scenario and then walking them through a solution using the steps from the chart. This sets them up to understand that, although finding solutions may take some effort, the ultimate goal is to learn to problem-solve using a reasoned, deliberate, focused approach that will lead to healthy decision-making and satisfying solutions, even when (and especially when) those solutions may not be what they originally envisioned.

After the sample are the problem scenarios. In each scenario, youngsters confront a high-interest, adolescent-type situation—the kind of situation that requires them not just to problem-solve but to think hard about what their values are, what kind of people they want to be, and how they want to present themselves as they develop into young adults. Decisions have consequences—some of them lasting—and that can be hard for kids at these ages to remember. The problems in this book remind them that they are no longer young children; they are developing autonomy, assuming responsibility for their actions, and they will want do so in ways that are both conscious and conscientious.

The problems are followed by open-ended questions to promote deep thinking and Socratic discussions. Even if some children don’t feel comfortable having honest, open discussions about some of the issues presented, they can’t help but contemplate what they would do in the scenarios, which are deliberately constructed so that all options, no matter how unsavory, have an element of legitimacy and attraction to them that lends them credence as live, valid options to consider. This is a relatively short but tough book that will get kids thinking critically and problem-solving creatively, which will stand them in good stead as they march toward adulthood.