Sparks

September 1, 2008
A spark could be a talent, an interest, a skillthe reason we're in the world; the goal of this book is to show parents and teens how to find that spark and develop it. A well-respected author and psychologist, Benson ("All Kids Are Our Kids") trains educators and other professionals as CEO of the Search Institute in Minneapolis. He fills his chatty text with stories of kids who have recognized their spark and how their parents nurtured it. To help parents understand their teens, he turns to the Myers-Briggs test. The idea is excellent, the presentation upbeat, and the anecdotes inspiring. In the end, though, the book is simply too repetitive; readers will feel as if they are reading the same definitions and stories over and over. Perhaps this should have been a periodical article instead of a 256-page book. "All Kids Are Our Kids" is a more important work.Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, PA

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