The McWhirter's book provides a nice introduction to workingwith at-risk youth. This book is undoubtedly marked towardsundergraduate students and as a result the authors do a few things that are a bt too "cute" for my taste--like using their poetry and sayings at the beginning each chapter and using a tree metaphor to talk about at-risk behavior. Also, I did not find the case studies particularly relevant but are probably fine for students with limited experience workings with this population. None of this though detracts from an otherwise wonderful book. The authors do a nice job of addressing topics like risky sexual behavior, violence, and suicide and a good series of chapters on intervention. Having said this, though, I think this is a very nice book, enjoyed reading it, and will recommend it to others who want a overview of at-risk youth. END