A hilarious and heartrending account of one mother's journey to
understand and reconnect with her high-spirited preteen son-a true story
sure to beguile parents grappling with a child's bewildering behavior.
Popular literature is filled with the stories of self-sacrificing
mothers bravely tending to their challenging children. Katherine Ellison
offers a different kind of tale. Shortly after Ellison, an award-winning
investigative reporter, and her twelve-year-old son, Buzz, were both
diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, she found
herself making such a hash of parenting that the two of them faced three
alternatives: he'd go to boarding school; she'd go AWOL; or they'd make
it their full-time job to work out their problems together. They decided
to search for a solution while Ellison investigated what genuine relief,
if any, might be found in the confusing array of goods sold by the
modern mental health industry. The number of diagnoses for childhood
attention and behavior issues is exploding, leaving parents and
educators on a confusing chase to find the best kind of help for each
child. Buzz, a page-turner of a memoir, brings much relief. It is
immensely engaging, laugh-out-loud funny, and honest-and packed with
helpful insights.
