Grow the Tree You Got: & 99 Other Ideas for Raising Amazing Adolescents and Teenagers

A wise and inspiring guide to parenting through the extraordinary- and at times tumultuous-journey that is the adolescent and teenage years.

When Tom Sturges became a father, he decided that he wanted to be one of the greatest father that ever walked the earth. But things became a bit more complicated when his older son turned ten, and the chatty kid he'd known suddenly started locking his bedroom door. Tom realized he needed to find a way to stay on track-he needed crib notes. So, if a parenting idea of technique worked well, he wrote it down. And if he stumbled across something another parent did that was particularly ingenious or exemplary, he wrote that down, too. In Grow the Tree You Got, Tom presents "golden rules" for raising happy, healthy, and compassionate adults. His mantra? It's impossible to show our children too much respect, but it's worth the effort to try.

Tom Sturges is a mentor, teacher, coach, and volunteer, and the father of two sons. He is the executive vice president and head of creative for Universal Music Publishing Group. Tom also created a learning program that develops creativity in children via the writing of lyrics, melodies, and recording the finished songs. Every Idea Is a Good Idea has been an integral element of the MBUSD Gate Program for five of the last six years, reaching more than 360 students. Tom also teaches The Music Business Now at UCLA Extension, a course central to the UCLA Music Business Certificate Program. Sturges, who lives in Manhattan Beach, California, is a golfer, and an inventor, and the son of legendary writer and director Preston Sturges. He is also the President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Academy Of Recording Arts and Sciences.