we thank our parents, Ben, Pat, and Judy Heller and Bea and Jerry Adler, who
provided insights into childrearing and parenting. They taught us that good par-
enting never ends, that it is a lifelong endeavor. We are grateful to have been
parented by loving and supportive people, who created a familial atmosphere
in which our relationships with our parents, as well as our siblings, could flour-
ish. To Lois, Deedy, Woody, Rob, Nikko, and Kyra we would like to send our
appreciation for furthering our understanding of the growing-up experience.
Similarly, our observations of our nieces and nephews, Adam, Josh, Michael,
Rebecca, Whitney, Travis, Sosie, and Alex, informed the analyses in this book.
Our brother-in-law, Kevin Bacon, took time out of his hectic schedule to cre-
ate the cover drawings, proving once again that his artistic talents extend in
many directions. All of these people have combined to make this book truly a
"family affair."

Finally, accolades go to our children, Jori and Brye, who suffered through
more dinners of pizza, tuna fish, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and take-
out Chinese food than anyone needs to endure. Now, with one of them in the
twilight of her adolescence and the other just dawning in his teen years, they
have spent most of their lives under the microscopic scrutiny of having every
intricate detail of their lives examined. Not many children could have with-
stood the kind of interrogations we sometimes put them through. Even more
amazingly, they seemed to thrive under the spotlight, true assistants in the
ethnography of their lives. We lovingly, respectfully, and admiringly dedicate
this book to them.

In the end, it has been a marvelous decade of watching, observing, and an-
alyzing children in their natural habitats. Surely, some of our extrapolations will
resonate, while others may seem outlandish. We trust that reading this book
will give more insight into the vortex of the mysterious lives of preadolescent
children. We tried to treat their worlds with the respect they deserve. For any
oversights, misconceptions, errors, or problems we stand ready to take the
blame; it is our hope, however, that the problems are few and the wisdom is
that much greater.

PORTIONS OF EARLIER versions of chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 appear as, respec-
tively: Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler, "Parent-as-Researcher: The Politics
of Researching in the Personal Life," Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 19, No. 1 ( Jan-
uary 1996); Patricia A. Adler, Steven J. Kless, and Peter Adler, "Socialization
to Gender Roles: Images of Popularity among Elementary School Boys and
Girls," Sociology of Education, Vol. 65, No. 3 ( July 1992); Patricia A. Adler and
Peter Adler, "Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Preadolescent Cliques,"

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