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The Art of Growing Up

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The Art of Growing Up

By: John Marsden
Narrated by: John Marsden
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About this listen

From the award-winning and bestselling author of the Tomorrow series, with new memoir Take Risks out now.

When I hear parents say 'I want my children to enjoy their childhood; there'll be time when they're older to learn about those things', I hear the voices of those who are scared of the vastness of the universe. These adults have a view of childhood as some kind of discrete interval, rather than just a few years from the continuum of life. How fortunate that the spirit, courage and curiosity of many young people remain largely undefeated by such adults.


John Marsden has spent his adult life engaging with young minds - through both his award-winning, internationally bestselling young adult fiction and his work as one of Australia's most esteemed and experienced educators. As the founder and principal of two schools, John is at the coalface of education and a daily witness to the inevitable and yet still mysterious process of growing up.

Now, in this astonishing, insightful and ambitious manifesto, John pulls together all he has learned from over forty years' experience working with and writing for young people. He shares his insights into everything - from the role of schools and the importance of education, to problem parents and problem children, and the conundrum of what it means to grow up and be 'happy' in the 21st century.

©2019 John Marsden (P)2019 Macmillan Australia Audio
Childhood Education Education Parenting & Families Relationships
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Undoubtedly the best book I have read in many, many years. I read/listen to around 5-6 books a month. Marsden is one of the greatest authors of our time. His experience as a principal is invaluable. As a parent of 4 young children and a teacher of year 5, I wish I could make this compulsory reading for all the parents at my school (and every other school in the country). A masterpiece.

A MASTERPIECE. ASSUREDLY THE BEST BOOK OF 2019.

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I have been training adults for years and the insights that John delivers on educating the young work just as well with adults, thanks for a fantastic reference point, on how and why people do the things they do and how they learn.
I rate this equally to my favourite "How to win friends and influence people"

John Marsden you're a superstar

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I’ve read this three times. I just love his wisdom, his stories, his tenacity. It’s sometimes hard to read, like looking in a mirror and seeing something you didn’t want to see in yourself. But i had to hear it and be explained why it’s not helpful. I assumed he got a Doctorate for this. Should get one if he hasn’t already.

Love this book

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Many parents & educators will find John Marsden's words offensive, but I found them inspiring, as he has an honest, no-holding-back way of telling it like he sees it - our children are floundering & we need a new look at our public education system. I found most of what the author believes in was supported by sound reasoning but I had the odd cringe at his brutal honesty of some school policies & parenting styles.
In an ideal world we would probably all like to send our children to a school like his, but this is far from possible in most of this country. We have to make the best of the systems (private & public) that we are presented with, but good sensible parenting can go along way to alleviating the problems of a less than perfect school system & this is where I found the book most inspiring - his advice via examples on modern parenting. We have a huge population of anxious children & we need to take steps to generate more resilience in our young people & a lot of John's suggestions & philosophy will help achieve this.

A book for all parents & educators

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This book wanders away from topic periodically, usually into politics and literature, but even these wanderings are interesting. At times, John Marsden comes across as somewhat egocentric and jaded and this book feels like an opportunity to verbally bash different groups of people, but as a whole the book is most definitely worth reading.

Intellectually judgmental, but right.

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best book in a long time. 98% great the other 2 have given ome a alot to think

it may be a confirmation bias. I totally 98% it

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Returned it as the sancrimonius tone and highly dense biblical and other historical references never got to the point it seemed. I skipped through ti find a point. dont blame the parents blame the teachers to which this author is one and boars kids and now me the parent to death. who is also highly educated btw and cannot stand fluffy language to pad out a book. get to the point already! 1 star it does not deserve. parents are too busy to listen to a lecture and that is what this is.

does this guy even have kids?

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too much negativity and could not bring myself to continue listening to the remainder 9f the book.

not an easy read

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John Marsden is clearly a master of the English language but that also clearly doesn't make him a master educator. This book is his ramblings and opinions based on nothing but his own anecdotal experiences and arguments with parents. He never even attempts to back up anything he claims with research or evidence and places an inordinate amount of significance on a child's sexual development on their overall well-being. An overall disappointing read when I was hoping for insights into his teaching philosophy at his school... Give it a miss.

One man's opinions

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I did not feel the title of the book represents its context. This book talks about schools and some of the pros and cons within the school and educational institution. I didn’t find the story to be insightful or provide new ideas around schooling that haven’t been explored else were. However the schools the author founded sound like great schools and I would love to see more with similar principles.

Growing includes more than going to School.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.