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Choices teenagers make today determine where they will stand on tomorrow's global playing field. Wise decisions made early help guarantee success. Raising Yourself: Making the Right Choices provides simple, time-tested guidelines teens can rely on to realize their greatest potential. Author Sumant Pendharkar reveals sound decision-making strategies that thousands of readers have used to make informed choices about education, selecting friends, handling peer-pressure, family planning, avoiding drugs, steering clear of gangs and myriad other issues facing today's youth.    Seal of Approval 2002 & 2006

Best Book 2006 This book MUST be read by every student in early middle school! All teachers should use this as THE text in the Science/Health class when teaching the children how to lead a healthy life! Marcie Bertram, RN April 2008 I wish that your book was available when my sons were teenagers. They could have benefited from it very much, as well as me as a parent.   Erayna Heskes Haket November 2007

Critically acclaimed, Raising Yourself: Making the Right Choices offers compelling truths, rock-solid advice and is a must-read for all teenagers.

“As parents we make choices for our children on a daily basis. We want them to grow up with common sense, strong values and a good sense of self. Here is a book designed as a self-help guide for early teens and up. It is filled with real-life scenarios and propositions that require them to think, use reasoning and ultimately choose a course of action. Raising Yourself is a very proactive book that is designed to get in the faces of teens. Parents thought the issues, which include friends, sex, jobs and much more, were thought provoking and appropriate.” 
Seal of Approval, The National Parenting Center

"Raising Yourself" was included in the 2004 A Better Chance New Scholar Orientation Kit

"In the Peers section, Sumant Pendharkar explains the good, bad and the ugly aspects. His section on how to choose friends is excellent.

 I wish someone had given me a book like this when I was a teenager and I've even learned some valuable tips from reading it 20 years late. This book would make an excellent textbook. I'm pretty sure this book would open communication between parents and teenagers if read by both and then discussed."

~ TheRebeccaReview.com,  Amazon.com Top 10 Reviewer

"The message for teens is to take responsibility for their own lives and realize that the choices one makes at 16 will profoundly impact life at 17, 27, 37, and so on...a valid message to take to heart."

School Library Journal 

"Raising Yourself is very highly recommended reading for kids needing to grapple with the social issues, temptations, and decisions facing them today."

Reviewer's Choice, The Midwest Book Review

"Helpful not only for teens or preteens but also for parents of that age group. It is highly recommended reading."

Mac McKinnon, Times Publisher, The Fort Morgan Times

"As a high school administrator I see many misguided teens. This book would definitely help put them on the straight path that leads to a happy, successful life. Thank you for making such an excellent resource possible."
Jennifer Hutchinson, School Administrator, Licensed,  State of Minnesota

Reviews from Teens:

“The book explained how to stay out of debt and how to stay away from drugs. It also told me how to set up a career. If I wanted to play on a professional team I would have a backup plan if I didn't make the team. The book also told about the pros and cons on dropping out of school. It also told me about moving on and getting a college degree. All the information was helpful for planning my future.”  Bryan Dickson 10, Libertyville, fifth grade, Butterfield School

 “It talks a lot about things children have to deal with throughout their life. The book is not leaning to one way at any point. They give many different ways you are able to deal with things, depending on your gender. I also found that having a girls section and a boys section allowed them to get the author's points across more clear, rather then having them combined.”
Cassie Braden 13, Beach Park, seventh grade, Beach Park Middle School

“It talked about real life problems. It had advice on day-to-day issues that teens face. It talked about peer pressure, drugs, sex, school, and how the choices you make at an early age can ruin your whole life.”  Alexandra Rose 12, Spring Grove, seventh grade, Stanton School

 Read additional reviews by clicking on the Awards & Reviews link