ABSTRACT
MN: One thing we need to remember is that this is written from the child’s point of view and it’s his experience. He sees that he’s not interesting to others. He is aware of his own despair or bewilderment in not knowing how to relate to others. He sees his parents as uninvolved and unable to connect with him. Th e resultant sense of isolation reinforces his loneliness and self-criticism. I worry about how youngsters like this will manage the internal and social pressures of adolescence, about whether there will be a growing alienation from others and/or a growing aggression that might get turned upon them.
