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Wildhood: The Astounding Connections Between Human and Animal Adolescents Audiobook
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A New York Times Editor’s Pick ** People Best Books ** Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Books ** Chicago Tribune 28 Books You Need to Read Now **
“It blew my mind to discover that adolescent animals and humans are so similar…I loved this book!” —Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human and Animals in Translation
A “vivid…and fascinating” (Los Angeles Times) investigation of human and animal adolescence and nature’s guide to growing up from the New York Times bestselling authors of Zoobiquity.
Harvard evolutionary biologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and animal behaviorist Kathryn Bowers studied thousands of wild species searching for evidence of human-like adolescence in other animals. With a groundbreaking synthesis of animal behavior, human psychology, and evolutionary biology, their research uncovered something remarkable: the same four high-stakes tests shape the destiny of every adolescent on planet Earth—how to be safe, how to navigate social hierarchies, how to connect romantically, and how to live independently. Safety. Status. Sex. Self-reliance.
To bring these challenges to life, the authors analyzed GPS and radio collar data from four wild adolescent animals. Will a predator-naïve penguin become easy prey? Can a low-born hyena socialize his way to a better life? Did a young humpback choose the right mate? Will a newly independent grey wolf starve, or will he become self-reliant? The result is a game-changing perspective on anxiety, risky behavior, sexual first times, and leaving home that can help teenagers and young adults coming of age in a rapidly changing world.
As they discover that “adolescence isn’t just for humans” through “rollicking tales of young animals navigating risk, social hierarchy, and sex with all the bravura (and dopiness) of our own teenage beasts” (People), readers will learn that in fact, this volatile and vulnerable phase of life creates the basis of adult confidence, success, and even happiness. This is an invaluable guide for parents, teenagers, and anyone who cares about adolescence and the science of growing up, who will find “the similarities between animal and human teenagers uncanny, and the lessons they have to learn remarkably similar” (The New York Times Book Review).
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“There is much here for the nature lover, the parent seeking advice, and the college freshman tackling ‘adulting.’ By laying out the adolescent experience of so many species in rich detail, the authors normalize and celebrate the beauty and complexity of our own species’ journey into the big wide world.”
— Science magazine
Quotes
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“It blew my mind to discover that teenage animals and teenage humans are so similar. Both are naive risk-takers. I loved this book!”
— Temple Grandin, New York Times bestselling author -
“In lively personalized accounts that keep our attention, the authors explain how the transition to independence works in each species and why it looks so similar across the board.”
— Frans de Waal, PhD, New York Times bestselling author -
“Adolescence isn’t just for humans. Here an evolutionary biologist offers up rollicking tales of young animals navigating risk, social hierarchy, and sex with all the bravura (and dopiness) of our own teenage beasts.”
— People -
“Narrator Robin Miles adds a continuous tone of excitement to this scientific exploration of life as a teenage mammal…Her narration carries each scene to its dramatic conclusion. Miles’s performance makes expanding one’s understanding of adolescent mammals great fun.”
— AudioFile -
“Readers will come away with an appreciation for a host of other qualities—friendship, social status, cooperation, leaving home and coming back—that are rooted in that one crucial stage of life.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“The vivid storytelling and fascinating scientific digressions in Wildhood make it a pleasurable read. It’s also a book parents may find reassuring.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“An incredibly fascinating read.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Take the authors up on their invitation to observe animals in the wild and in your own household, and you’ll never look at other beings the same again. Wildhood is for parents, nature lovers, and the curious alike.”
— Times Record
Awards
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New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
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A New York Times Pick of Best Books Now in Paperback
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A Booklist Top 10 Book of the Year in Sci-Tech
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A Chicago Tribune Pick of Must-Reads
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A People Magazine Pick of Best Books of Fall
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About the Authors
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, MD, is a visiting professor at Harvard University in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. She is also professor of medicine/cardiology at UCLA where she co-founded the evolutionary medicine program. She is the coauthor of Zoobiquity and Wildhood.
Kathryn Bowers was a staff editor at the Atlantic and a writer and producer at CNN International. She has edited and written popular and academic books and teaches a course at UCLA on medical narrative.
About Robin Miles
Robin Miles, named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, has twice won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, an Audie Award for directing, and many Earphones Awards. Her film and television acting credits include The Last Days of Disco, Primary Colors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, New York Undercover, National Geographic’s Tales from the Wild, All My Children, and One Life to Live. She regularly gives seminars to members of SAG and AFTRA actors’ unions, and in 2005 she started Narration Arts Workshop in New York City, offering audiobook recording classes and coaching. She holds a BA degree in theater studies from Yale University, an MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama, and a certificate from the British American Drama Academy in England.