Part memoir and part social reform strategy, author Alfred H. Kurland raises questions and furnishes solutions in The Soul of Adolescence Aligns with the Heart of Democracy: Orphans, Rebels and Civic Lovers Unite. Tomorrow's leaders are today's youth and today's youth are not being included in the conversations that will shape the legal, social and civic infrastructure of what tomorrow will be for them. Since the mid-80s, Kurland has championed youth services and teen-enfranchisement, establishing proactive initiatives and programs strengthening teen leadership, empowerment, engagement, and reform. Kurland merges stages and stories of his own with others who have the same or similar goals, and/or teens who've had their lives transformed by advocacy programs. Yanel Cordero, a teen mentored by Kurland, thrived in a global leadership program, and Ayesha, a teen who successfully wrote a grant that was funded and set up sexual awareness classes at three high schools.

I am an immigrant to the West from a third-world country, setting my foot down on British soil, alone, as a teenager and an economic refugee. I am brown, a Muslim, and when I arrived my English was limited to the bare-bones basics. I am what Alfred H. Kurland would put into the archetype of 'orphan', and am convinced now having read The Soul of Adolescence Aligns with the Heart of Democracy that if a program with teen input had existed, the transition would have not left me with the emotional scars that will never heal. Kurland is an academic and the latter half of his book reflects this. It has the distinctive formula of a dissertation, counterbalanced with individual stories to elevate it beyond. Unlike a dissertation, it is highly unlikely Kurland would need to defend it. The facts and stories are a powerful combination and prove that “Adolescent development and civic efficacy each evolve successfully when subject to a full measure of attention.” This book is a must-read.

The Soul of Adolescence Aligns with the Heart of Democracy: Orphans, Rebels and Civic Lovers Unite by Alfred H. Kurland looks into the concept of empowered teens, the untapped potential of teens, and the contributions that some teens he worked with brought to the city of New York. Alfred exposes some biases, which are based on negative stereotypes, about teens—in terms of their age, culture, sex, and national origin. The author advocates for the utilization of adolescent assets—social and emotional styles of intelligence—in community problem solving and at the municipal level of governance. The book is filled with diverse insights, including several profound ideas that the author gained while working with teens and while growing up and the different concepts he gleaned from other individuals.

With the detailed, logical references and discussions in the book, Alfred H. Kurland helped me to unlearn the different biases about teens and their level of maturity that I learned from the ill-informed opinions of teachers and elders while growing up. The Soul of Adolescence Aligns with the Heart of Democracy is quite comprehensive and packed with information about several subjects, including loss, archetypes, conscious civic work, chakras, narrative storytelling, the wisdom of the soul, bodily awareness and intuitive intelligence, trauma, and much more. I loved that the book includes enough references for further research purposes and several stories about inspiring individuals and deeds. Teachers, world leaders, lay leaders, parents, and youth workers around the world will learn a lot from this book; perhaps, considering the opinions of our youths would dissuade us from our destructive patterns and save the planet for the current and future generations.