Friends broaden our children’s horizons, share their joys and secrets, and accompany them on their journeys into ever wider worlds. But friends can also gossip and betray, tease and exclude. Children can cause untold suffering, not only for their peers but for parents as well. In this wise and insightful book, psychologist Michael Thompson, Ph.D., and children’s book author Catherine O’Neill Grace, illuminate the crucial and often hidden role that friendship plays in the lives of children from birth through adolescence.

Drawing on fascinating new research as well as their own extensive experience in schools, Thompson and Grace demonstrate that children’s friendships begin early–in infancy–and run exceptionally deep in intensity and loyalty. As children grow, their friendships become more complex and layered but also more emotionally fraught, marked by both extraordinary intimacy and bewildering cruelty. As parents, we watch, and often live through vicariously, the tumult that our children experience as they encounter the “cool” crowd, shifting alliances, bullies, and disloyal best friends.

Best Friends, Worst Enemies brings to life the drama of childhood relationships, guiding parents to a deeper understanding of the motives and meanings of social behavior. Here you will find penetrating discussions of the difference between friendship and popularity, how boys and girls deal in unique ways with intimacy and commitment, whether all kids need a best friend, why cliques form and what you can do about them.

Filled with anecdotes that ring amazingly true to life, Best Friends, Worst Enemies probes the magic and the heartbreak that all children experience with their friends. Parents, teachers, counselors–indeed anyone who cares about children–will find this an eye-opening and wonderfully affirming book.

From the Hardcover edition.

迈克尔·汤普森博士

杰出的心理学家，咨询师，专长为儿童和家庭问题。在美国各地超过700所学校承担过心理咨询师和辅导师的工作，有与儿童和青少年沟通和解决实际问题的丰富经验。

出版的男孩养育专著连续76个月名列《纽约时报》畅销书排行榜亲子教育类第一名。

凯瑟琳·奥尼尔·格雷斯

《独立学校》杂志前编辑，出版过多本非虚构类童书，在《华盛顿邮报》开设专栏，为年轻读者撰写健康及心理类文章。

劳伦斯·科恩博士

美国心理学家，专长为儿童游戏、游戏治疗和亲子关系。著有美国国家亲子出版奖金奖书籍《游戏力：笑声，激活孩子天性中的合作与勇气》、畅销家庭教育书籍《游戏力2：轻推，帮孩子战胜童年焦虑》、《亲子打闹游戏的艺术》