Dropping In On the Waves of Life

I rated this as 3-stars simply because I am not really in the target audience of 21st century middle-grade or young adults.
I read it with interest because the author is a high school classmate; he helped organize our very successful high school class 50th reunion in 2016. I was not at all close to him in high school and I knew our life experiences were very different, but I was interested learning in his experiences during our school years in Southern California and our formative young adult years in the 1960s and 1970s.
Peter relates a series of stories from his life growing up, analyzing the lessons he learned from them. He urges young readers to analyze what similar experiences they may have had and what coping strategies they may have available to them.
Although Peter and I went to the same high school at the same time, we inhabited very different worlds at the time. He had a car and liked to spend most of his time at the beach, 20 miles away, surfing. I grew up with my father, without a car in our household, let alone a car of my own. By nature, I was much more academically inclined. I was more likely to be reading about math and science or busing to the downtown library to browse the literature room, first for 20th century poetry, then for foreign literature (think haiku, Noh drama, Rabelais, Kafka, philology) that excited my fancy as I wandered around.
Nevertheless, the experiences Peter relates, particularly how he explores them, are fairly universal in nature. He stresses that universality in teasing out the lessons he has learned. In that sense we have shared a lot of the same experiences. And, since we experienced them in the same time periods, I can relate to them in a way that is probably closer to his experience than that of 21st century young adults.
Peter has spent a lot more time teaching young people over the past half century than I have. I'm sure his presentation is a lot better adapted to his intended audience than to his grizzled old classmate.
I am grateful that Peter has shared his experiences so thoughtfully and with such a kind and loving heart.