In The Breakthrough Years, child development expert Ellen Galinsky explains why that is so often true. Galinskys seven-year inquiry into the adolescent brain and behaviour, including conducting original studies - uniquely informed by the questions adolescents have about their own development - shows why our understanding of adolescence is out of step with the latest research - and how to correct it. She: Identifies Five Basic Needs - such as belonging, developing competence, and building an identity - and show how we can meet these needs in positive ways; Presents Five Life Skills that are developing rapidly during adolescence like setting goals and strategies, perspective taking, critical thinking, and taking on challenges and shows how we can promote them; Introduces Solutions Mindset and Shared Solutions, a problem-solving mindset and process that parents and others can use to help create solutions to their adolescents challenging problems. Ellen Galinskys paradigm-shifting book will help parents and those who work with teens to understand adolescence not as the I hope we can get though these years but as the breakthrough years that they truly can be.