

"Based on more than 20 years of research and observation at a troop's summer encampment as well as extensive interviews with generations of scouts, this study investigates the effects of the complex, lived realities of scouting on boys as they struggle to define themselves. . . . Measured in its criticism, and ultimately supportive of Scouting (while acknowledging the pain experienced by gay scouts), this is a smart book that combines fascinating research with a critique of contemporary politics."—Publishers Weekly "More than just an affirmation that the Boy Scouts can still play a positive role in shepherding adolescents to manhood in the 21st century, Mechling's study offers many insights into the importance of gender in defining cultural practice."—Choice "On My Honor is a wonderfully knowing and compelling social history that tells us so much about who we Americans are. The story of the Boy Scouts in this book becomes an important moral narrative—an exploration of our country's values as they become affirmed in the lives of our children."—Robert Coles, author of Lives of Moral Leadership "This is everything you wanted to know, or didn't want to know, about the Boy Scouts of America from the bottom up. Mechling has written this book on his own Scout's honor to tell us the truth about the enormous gap between the central organization's conservative beliefs and the everyday disorderliness and creativity that help turn these boys into men."—Brian Sutton-Smith, author of The Ambiguity of Play Copyright



