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For Immediate Release

"I'm glad I read these words of wisdom before my girls became teens!"

Richard Carlson
Bestselling author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

"Patt and Steve Saso's insights and practical pointers will prove useful to parents whatever the age of their children."

Clayton Barbeau
Author of the highly acclaimed book How to Raise Parents: Questions and Answers for Teens and Parents

Notre Dame, IN - Patt and Steve Saso navigated all the parenting perils from infancy to preteen insecurity, but nothing could prepare them for the unpredictability of adolescence. One day their teenager might say, "I love you," after the morning ride to school, and the next he might sit in the back seat, sulking in silence. In their book, 10 Best Gifts for Your Teen (SORIN BOOKS) the Sasos offer valuable advice to help families maintain strong relationships through the often-turbulent teenage years.

Combining Patt's expertise as a marriage and family therapist with Steve's experience as a high school educator, the Sasos share personal and professional anecdotes in this dispatch from the parenting trenches, detailing what adolescents want and need from their parents for emotional support. Teenagers will test the limits. Parents will make mistakes. But no matter how distant and resentful they appear to be, or how disrespectful of parental authority, teenagers internalize their parents' words and actions.

10 Best Gifts For Your Teen - which include respect, room, role-modeling, responsibility and reconciliation - teaches parents how to relate when needed, and to relent when necessary, offering support without infringing on their teenagers' burgeoning sense of freedom.

Patt and Steve Saso have shared their wisdom through their business Saso Seminars, providing inspiration and information to help parents raise respectful and responsible children. And now, with 10 Best Gifts For Your Teen, they have given a gift to parents across the country who want their teenager's transition from childhood to adulthood to be a smooth and rewarding one.

SORIN BOOKS Offering Hope - Enhancing Life - Renewing Faith
PO Box 1006 - Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 - 219.287.2831

Interview Questions

1. How is your book different from the other parenting books on the market?

2. I noticed the ten gifts are not materialistic…what are they and why are they so important?

3. Why are people so concerned about teens these days? Why do they get such a bad rap?

4. What is the most important gift and why?

5. What is your favorite of all the gifts and why?

6. Our media culture sends very conflicting and confusing messages about what it means to be a man and woman, what do you tell parents of teenagers about this?

7. How did you come up with the idea of a parenting book?

8. What trends are you noticing in parenting styles and what difference does it make what style you are?

9. What do children need most from their parents?

10. What one piece of information do parents need most in their career as a parent?

11. Of all the feedback you've gotten from your book, what surprised you the most?

12. What can a parent who is exhausted and isolated do to meet her kid's emotional needs?

13. How might a parent modify his behavior in order to better interact with his teenager?

14. What is normal teenage behavior?

15. How might a parent shift from being the child's boss to his mentor?

16. What parental actions further widen the gap between a parent and a teenager?

17. How might a parent build a relationship of trust, openness, and honesty with his or her teenager?

18. How can a parent teach a teen responsibility?

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Book Reviews

As a grandfather, for the second time I have teenagers in my life… I found this book written not only for my daughter but also for me. When I read in the introduction, "You cannot change your teenager. You can change yourself," I knew I needed to read this book. It is an excellent and practical resource for all parents and grandparents. It shows a wonderful way to deal with teenagers and others. - Floyd (Tom) McCready Jr., Arvada, CO, Ave Maria Press

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A very healthy and common sense book. It deals with the relationship between the teen and his/her parents in a realistic and easy manner to follow. Both Patt Saso, who is a counselor, and Steve, who is a high school educator, admit they have made mistakes in their parenting, but are prepared to learn form their mistakes and try again. What a relief! For me the quote of the book involves the gift of Respect.

"Respect," they say, "is the foundation of all healthy relationships. Both parent and adolescent want and need respect. We are children of God. We have inherent dignity and worth."

What a great foundation and base for healthy family life. Definitely a book worth reading!
- Monica Robinson, New Zealand Review

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Most of us are well aware of our basic responsibilities as parents of teenagers. We set curfew, advise and warn about alcohol, drugs, and sexual relationships, require them to do chores in order to teach responsibility, supervise the homework arena, provide consequences for "talking back" …and on and on and on. But do we know how to have an open, honest, loving relationship with them?

Get the lawn chair out. Pour yourself a tall glass of ice tea. Read this gem of a book this weekend and begin to understand how we, as parents, can learn how to build a relationship with our teenagers in which they feel understood, loved, valued, challenged, and supported.

I felt encouraged and motivated to make the changes in myself that would enhance the bond between my sons and I. This book is both instructive and inspiring. I don't know about you, but I have been beat up by many a parenting book! This is a book that will build you up and support you while at the same time enhance your love and understanding towards your teenager.
- Rosemarie Shaheen Healy, Parent-To-Parent Corner, San Jose, CA

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Awards

Awards by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Second Place: Family Life

The topic treated in this book is very timely. The authors provide insightful solutions and concrete ways to deal with teenagers with whatever obstacle may be encountered while living and raising a teen. Helpful tools are also given to assist in the prevention of certain obstacles. Through giving such concrete examples, the reader is able to identify with the topic and use the book as a guide to better parenting. It is very readable and an excellent resource.

Awards by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada Third Place:

Third Place: First Time Author of a Book

Parents of teens, as well as others who love or work with them, will recognize in this book the wisdom of those who have gone before them. The Saso have entered (and survived) the sometimes frightening and at the very least bewildering world of teen life, and they clearly demonstrate that they have listened carefully to teens and understand how teens think. They are not afraid to move past superficiality and talk about the real-life struggles between parent and teens. And they boldly offer concrete, doable advice. This book will make a difference in any reader's relationship with teens.

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