Book Review: “Raising Real Men”

Raising Real Men

Hal and Melanie Young

$15.00 (paperback) / $9.99 (Kindle)

I was honored to be contacted by the Youngs and asked if I would review their book. It has been a joy to read.

Raising Real Men is a highly practical book, showing how this family is raising six sons (and one daughter, poor girl!). The Youngs regularly present some of this material in seminar/workshop form, but the book is well-done and easy to read.

One of the aspects I appreciated the most in this volume is the emphasis on true masculinity as God defines it, not as the world defines it. The boys are taught to be mannerly, but are also allowed to be rough-and-tumble. Going against the grain of many in our modern world, they are taught to defend ladies and to always seek to be a hero to women. Personally, I want my son to learn that lesson. He needs to seek to always be a gentleman who reaches out to help women of all age, not because they are “lesser,” but because it’s just the kind thing to do.

The Youngs have a strong Christian leaning in this book, which I appreciate. One thing I wish were done is that Scripture references are done as endnotes to the chapters. Personally, I like them as a part of the text itself (done parenthetically), but this is just preference. There are many references to Old Testament passages, especially dealing with wisdom literature. These timeless traits need to be inculcated into the lives of our children.

For many of you, one “turn off” of the book is that there is a strong emphasis on homeschooling. The Youngs are very direct from the outset, that their book is just trying to tell what they have done, and that includes homeschooling their children. We homeschool our two children as well, so this was helpful information for me, but if you do not homeschool, you may find it to be a bit much.

Overall, this is a very good book with a much-needed emphasis. In a world that has seemingly forgotten what real masculinity looks like, it is past time we parents started reinforcing God-given maleness into our sons. This book is a good “how-to” for parents wanting to do just that.

[NOTE: To visit the Young’s website and blog, click here.]