The "twenty-something" years of young adulthood are increasingly recognized as critical but puzzling. Building on the foundation she established in her classic work, The Critical Years, Sharon Parks urges thoughtful adults to assume responsibility for providing strategic mentorship during this important decade in life. She reveals also, however, the ways young adults are influenced not only by individual mentors but also by mentoring environments.

To read Young Adulthood in a Changing World, an excerpt from this book,click here.

"No one who cares deeply about people in their twenties should be without this book. In Sharon Parks's lyrical company we learn so much more about their biggest possibilities-and our own." --Robert Kegan, author, In Over Our Heads and How the Way We Talk Changes The Way We Work; Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education

"Parks's clear voice in Big Questions, Worthy Dreams is simultaneously that of a scholar, clinician, ethicist, and priest--that of a rare and capable generalist who can nurture both teachers and students . . . . [and] reveal the architecture of the process by which we merge the questions of ultimate reality with the immediate needs and duties of our generation. Stunningly transparent. Essential insight." --Janet Cooper Nelson, Chaplain of the University, Brown University

I have spent the last thirty years, over half my life, devoted to the education and development of young adults. This book is a must-read for anyone who is focused on this age group. I wish I had read this at the beginning of my career as an educator." --James I. Cash Jr., professor and senior associate dean, Harvard Business School

"In this book we are reminded that Parks is a keen observer, a probing listener, a rich and subtle theorist, and a resourceful teacher. She writes with a spirit that calls forth the best capacities in young adults and in all those who care about their becoming." --James W. Fowler, author, Stages of Faith

"Sharon Daloz Parks has done it again. With thoughtful observation and wisdom born from experience, she provides us with remarkable insight into the lives of young adults. Her skillful weaving together of both theory and practice raises the conversation on the mission and higher education to new levels. Ultimately, this book is a challenge, a challenge to engage more, listen more, risk more in other words to be more fully human." --Steve Moore, vice president of Student Life, Baylor University

SHARON DALOZ PARKS is an associate director and member of the faculty at the Whidbey Institute, near Seattle. She has held faculty and senior research positions at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Business School, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Weston School of Theology. She is coauthor of Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World; To Act Justly, Love TAnderly, Walk Humbly; and Can Ethics Be Taught?.

Young Adulthood in a Changing World: Promise and Vulnerability.

Meaning and Faith.

Becoming at Home in the Universe.

It Matters How We Think.

It All DepAnds . . .

. . . . On Belonging.

Imagination: The Power of Adult Faith.

The Gifts of a Mentoring Environment.

Mentoring Communities: Higher Education: A Community of Imagination o Professional Education and the Professions *

The Workplace *

Travel *

The Natural Environment *

Families *

Religious Faith Communities.

Culture as Mentor.

Notes.

The Author.

Index.