Popular family expert Leman explains how children of all ages exercise more power than is good for them by underachieving, complaining, aggressively misbehaving, or withdrawing and being passive. With familiar-sounding examples, he offers techniques for resisting these manipulations and helping children learn mature ways to get what they need. The frequent focus on winning these battles gives the book an adversarial tone that may appeal to beleaguered parents but obscures the broader wisdom in this otherwise helpful guide. Maurice England’s performance is a faithful, easy-to-hear rendering of these ideas and a fairly consistent expression of Leman’s compassion for parents and children. But when the confidence in his splendid voice turns to certitude, some of the author’s thoughtfulness becomes lost and his more aggressive tactics begin to sound heavy-handed. T.W. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine