The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids, by Barbara Strauch. YEAR. Strauch, a long-time science reporter and current medical science and health editor for The New York Times, reviews the neurological research and evidence that indicates that the teen brain undergoes “exuberant” growth and development matched only by the first years of life. Her book is an investigation of the teen years from the point of view of parents, professionals, and teens themselves. Her conclusion: “Teens may be, indeed, a bit crazy. But crazy by design.”