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| Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations | 
 enlarge | Authors: Alex Harris, Brett Harris
Creator: Chuck Norris
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $9.52
You Save: $7.47 (44%)
New (35) Used (8) from $9.37
Avg. Customer Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 244
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 1601421125
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.83
EAN: 9781601421128
ASIN: 1601421125
Publication Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Great Book for Teens June 4, 2008
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
I've worked with teens for forty years, and I've noticed that we expect less from them now than we used to. It's reflected in the way we treat them, the way we talk to them, even the way we teach them. We dumb things down for them and insist that learning must be fun. Alex and Brett refuse to accept that view of their generation. They founded TheRebultion.com, and today the are among the most widely read teen writers on the web.
In Do Hard Things, they urge teens to accept challenges, and resist limitations established by others as to what they can accomplish. The emphasis here is on becoming everything God intended you to be, and it's a great book for teens. Recommended.
 Good but written with rose colored glasses June 11, 2008
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
This was a good book, and we are going to do a book study at church, but I felt it was written by two somewhat sheltered, home-schooled boys who come from a good home with loving parents. Author parents.
Comparisons to George Washington and Clara Barton? And the current people they chose to show as 'doing hard things' only demonstrate that their world is quite small - mostly white, who have educated parents and who have money. I don't think they really understand what the world is like for most other teens. They have not overcome the temptation to do drugs, join a gang, drink or get pregnant. Now THOSE are the kids who have done a hard thing, those are the kids that deserve to be praised for rebeling. There were several highlights where they looked down on the kids who did fall to teen vices without much understanding or compassion. I found them quite arrogant and braggish throughout most of the book.
They didn't address another huge issue that keeps teens from stepping out of their comfort zones - peer pressure from other teens who have low expectations of them. Again, this stems from them being sheltered and home schooled. How hard it is for the peer-labeled 'geek', 'drugger', and 'slacker' to step out when they may be banned to the loser table in the cafeteria. Teens are kids who in most cases are in the same school system with each other from Kindergarten up to high school. Once a mistake has been made or a label applied, it is virtually impossible to live down unless you are fortunate enough to change schools or become home schooled.
The book has some good points but as someone who took over raising my brothers and sisters when I was 17, washing clothes, buying groceries and going to school, I just felt these kids were light weights. It's easy to rebel when you have an adult support system behind you.
But I would still recommend it. It is sad when RSVPing an invitation, picking up your room and taking out the garbage are "hard things" our teens need to be inspired to tackle so with that, I agree with them.
A Must Read - Not Just For Teens! April 15, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Don't let the short length or easy-to-read conversational writing fool you, there's a lot of meat packed into these pages.
This book begins with the story of how Alex and Brett were challenged by their father to do hard things and how they heeded that call and the results of their efforts. It then goes on to discuss what they mean by hard things (and offers suggestions of what the five primary types of hard things are) and how teens today - individually and as groups - can set out to change the world by doing hard things on small and large scales.
The underlying premise of the book is simple: don't waste your teen years doing what it takes to just get by - push yourself and make a difference. It's a message that so many people (not just teens) need to hear and heed - with recent research showing that, on average, people are beginning to extend their adolescence into their 30s (the consequences of which we haven't even begun to understand.)
In addition to recommending this as reading for any Christian teen you know, I would recommend this to anyone who works with teens. It would be great to see youth groups begin to embrace the notion that they can and should be doing hard things. Beyond that, I would encourage 20-somethings (and heck, 30-somethings) who are wondering if this is all there is to life to give it a read and try to catch a vision for what the future will hold if we all move past "good enough" and begin to do hard things.
Not Just for Teens April 15, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
How long has it been since you've read one of those life changing books? The kind that creates a shift in your thinking.
This is your next one.
Do Hard Things is supposed to be a book for teens by teens encouraging teens to rebel against low expectations. Apparently I didn't get the memo. And I needed the kick in my 32 year old pants.
I dog eared so many pages in this book to share with you today that I may as well just go back and read the whole thing. All the folds are obnoxious.
I was especially stung by the chapter addressing people who are used to hanging out in the "above average crowd." Good grades came easily to me. Good genetics help my build and stature (I know for a fact it isn't self control in the jelly bean war that keeps me slender). I am not a standout athlete, but I was generally medal worthy at the 3A high school level. And I got used to being recognized for achieving things I didn't try very hard to achieve. And then these guys have to go and burst my bubble with the idea that just because I may have been "smarter than the average bear" it was still far below my potential (My mentor in college said the same thing. Rats.). They said this:
"God set His standards this high so that we won't make the mistake of aiming low. He made them unreachable so that we would never have an excuse to stop growing."
I'd like to interrupt this post to tell you that the last 30 minutes of my life, while not looking from the outset like a "hard thing," has been one of the more difficult as far as life expectations, and while I'll not expound on it, suffice it to say, I'd like to quit typing and go read a chick book. I don't want to do hard things. I want to sit on my rear and eat ice cream. And I think somebody knows that. But I am going to tell you about this book, anyway.
So, I intend to buy this book for each of my nieces and nephews and one for each of the youth pastors in my church. I'm making my husband read it, and probably both of my sisters. And if that isn't enough, I think YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO.
If you aren't a teen, you still probably know a teen. And unless you are over the age of 60, probably need to read it for yourself anyway (before you pass it on to a teen).
Don't be fooled, this isn't just a teen book. But if you know teens, they really should read it. Okay? O-K.
Don't Miss this Book! April 15, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
My Take: For 15 years I've been recommending, talking about, telling any who would listen about an article that directed the course of our parenting as our children entered their youth. The article was called Myth of the Teenager by Dr. Michael Platt and can googled.
Alex and Brett have taken the same message and speak it to TEENS - the very people that NEED to hear the message. They are out to lead a rebelution (rebellion against low expectations of teens). I believe that if this message catches fire in this generation it will change our society. It's that strong and powerful of a message. This book is written in an easy to read style and is filled with concrete illustrations and helfpul advice to motivate teens to Do Hard Things. I'm about 2/3 of the way through this book, but I am confident in recommending it to to you and your teens. In fact, along with a few other books (I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Not Even a Hint, Don't Check Your Brain at the Door, The New Tolerance..), Do Hard Things has become "highly recommended" reading for our teens. We like this one enough to put it on our "list".
The authors begin by leading us to rethink the teen years. They go on to mention 5 kinds of HARD things we should do: things that take us outside of our comfort zone, things that go beyond what's expected or required of us, things that are to big to do alone, things that don't pay off immediately, and hard things that go against the crowd.
Though this message is written by teens and for teens, I found myself encouraged and excited as I read. In fact *I* have been prodded to Do Hard Things. I've been hammered. You and your teens may be as well if you read this book. ::snort::
I feared this book would be boastful or arrogant; honestly it doesn't come across that way. The authors continually give the honor and glory for their fruit back to God - where it belongs. I also feared I wouldn't like the book. I don't like most books written on how to parent teens or written to teens. I LOVED this book. I felt like these young men were saying the same things we've been saying for lo these many years to our teens.
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