The R.A.T. Real-World Aptitude Test: Preparing Yourself for Leaving Home (Capital Ideas)

I got this in the mail a few weeks ago from a close family friend for a graduation gift. At first I thought it looked really stupid, but I was bored one afternoon so I just picked it up. It is so fascinating! Each section is short enough so that you can read as much or as little as you feel like. And it's really easy to skip around and only read the sections that interest you. Now I read a section or two everyday. It's a great book because it covers so much information in an interesting and funny way. The quiz format adds a little element of fun into the whole advice book thing. It's also neat how they end each section by telling you where to go for more info on something. Each section is informative and funny at the same time. And it covers really important everyday sort of stuff from basic cooking, to how to change a tire, to basic knowledge for credit cards. If you are looking for a great book for a graduate (of college or high school) this graduate is telling you to get this book!

While I, as an adult in my fifties, find this book to be fascinating, I have a hard time believing there is a very large, young adult, audience. It might have appealed to the Von Trapp children in "The Sound of Music," prior to their socialization by Fraulein Maria, or maybe Alex P. Keaton in "Family Ties." In other words, the book, while having obvious appeal to parents who want their children to be well-rounded adults, will most likely be read in detail by those kids who do their homework on Friday night. This leaves the typical Generation Y kids to find out some valuable, basic facts while being entertained at the same time. And that would be by reading 50 Ways to Leave Your Mother, which will take less than an hour to read, but will provide invaluable to the newly independent who need help with renting, roommates, and the ramen noodle diet.

One additional observation: rather than testing your kid with the R.A.T., try encouraging him to read the daily newspaper, Newsweek or Time Magazine, and make sure he socializes in groups that include adults, all throughout the growing up process. Bring him along when you go to the hardware store, change the oil, or replace a fuse. Insist he call the boss to say he's sick and can't come to work; have him sew on the button that fell off his shirt; and have him cook a meal for the family once in awhile. Prepare for what lies ahead when she leaves your home, and do it over the span of many years. Don't wait till they are young adults to test their abilities as stated in this book. The book can serve a useful purpose, to be consulted for the occasional quandry that arises like how to get grease spots out of a shirt, or the correct way to kiss someone when meeting formally. I bet it would be a great conversation-starter afer the family meal or when entertaining, and "testing" each other would be a great party game. Making it fun might just be the answer to making the book palatable to the masses.

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It's a great book for preparing teens for moving out of the house. Wish I would have had something like this!

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