MIDDLE GRADE NONFICTION : The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt & Catherine Price with Cynthia Yuan Cheng
ABOUT THE BOOK
Jonathan Haidt’s blockbuster book, The Anxious Generation, has sparked a global conversation about the effects of smartphones and social media on young people’s development, and has inspired millions of parents, teachers, and leaders to take action. Now, Haidt and Catherine Price, author of the bestselling How to Break Up with Your Phone, have teamed up to create a new book that speaks directly to kids. Their goal? To empower young people to stand up for themselves by choosing a life not dominated by screens and social media.
Whether or not kids already have smartphones or social media accounts, this engaging guide is packed with surprising facts, a graphic novel, interactive challenges, secrets that tech leaders don’t want kids to know, and real-life anecdotes from young adults who regret getting smartphones at a young age and want to help the next generation avoid making the same mistakes.
But this isn’t just a book about what not to do. It’s a bold, optimistic, and practical guide to growing into your most authentic, confident, and adventurous self. Readers won’t just discover how to avoid becoming the next Anxious Generation. They’ll learn how to become amazing.
REVIEW
The Amazing Generation gives tweens and teens a glimpse into the world of technology and what can happen if they give it too much power and influence in their lives. The color-saturated book combines interviews, quotes from young people, statistics, and graphic novel segments to help tweens and teens recognize the risks of spending too much of our time and attention in front of screens. The book is divided into three parts : The Tech Wizards' Rise--and Their Lies, Secrets of the Tech Wizards, and How to Be a Rebel. The goal of the book is to encourage young people to take back their lives from the control of the tech world and make deliberate choices about what they spend their time doing. The emphasis is on REAL friendships, REAL fun, and REAL freedom which they discuss thoroughly in the book. Lots of ideas for how to handle different aspects of tech use provide great options for how to handle different aspects of smartphone and other technology use. The focus on using devices and apps wisely rather than allowing them to control you is a vitally important message in this day and age. The graphic novel sections show contrasting groups of friends, one group is phone and tech obsessed while the other group avoids technology and pursues other interests while enjoying each other's company. The quotes from real-life teens and young adults provide important insights into just how influential tech can become if allowed to do so. If I had a tween or teen in my house, they would be asked to read this book before getting any kind of device!. I also really appreciated the upbeat tone that emphasizes the positive ways that they can respond to the Tech Wizards and they world they have created. The information presented is thoroughly documented on the website : AmazingGeneration.com. Highly recommended.
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