Friends:
After a year of chasing deadlines and developing a truly unhealthy screen/life balance for myself, I could not be more thrilled to announce that The Amazing Generation — the new book for kids that I co-authored with Jonathan Haidt — is finally here!
As you may already know, The Amazing Generation was inspired by Jon’s mega-bestseller, The Anxious Generation, but is written specifically for 4th and 7th graders. The goal of the book is to convince readers to decide for themselves not to allow their lives to be controlled by screens.
It was a tough challenge. As you no doubt know, 4th and 7th graders are extremely different in terms of their reading abilities, attention spans, and brain development, which meant that we needed to somehow create a book that worked on multiple levels at once (and that didn’t sound condescending or cheesy). We also wanted the book to feel fun to read, and to somehow convey the dangers posed by social media, smartphones, video games and addictive algorithms in a way that felt inspiring and empowering, rather than like two old people lecturing kids about screens.
We decided to base The Amazing Generation on what we call “The Rebels’ Code,” a simple mantra that a growing number of young people are deciding to follow for themselves and that, if adopted en masse, could really turn the tables on Big Tech.
The book is full-color and packed with illustrations and a mini graphic novel by Cynthia Yuan Cheng, a brilliant artist whose work makes the book a delight to flip through and read — and whose infographics help make some of the book’s more complicated concepts easier to grasp.
We also used playfulness—conveyed here via custom lettering by Mary Kate McDevitt — to encourage readers of all ages to consider how much of their time they’re spending on screens. (Several friends whose kids have seen early copies of the book report that this particular page has already been used against them by their kids—a role reversal that levels the playing field and can lead to constructive conversations about how to handle technology as a family.)
We also incorporated lots of quotes from real teenagers and young adults about their own experiences with smartphones and social media, and what advice they’d like to pass on to younger kids. To me, this is one of the most poignant and moving aspects of the whole book.
As might not surprise you, this was not an easy book to write. There were so many moving pieces to keep track of and orchestrate, and so many elements to design and lay out on the page. (Special thanks to art director Maya Tatsukawa and our editor, Lauri Hornik for making it all happen — as well as to my own team and the internal TAG team for their behind-the-scenes work.) We ran focus groups of kids in our target demographic; we had experts in childhood development review the manuscript—at times, it felt like we would never possibly meet our deadline. But we did, and here we are!
But it’s one thing to show the book to adults. It’s another thing entirely to show the book to kids. After all, as anyone who’s spent time around 9-12 year olds knows, their BS meters are extremely high, and they can smell condescension (and hypocrisy) from a mile away. That’s part of the reason I was so excited — but also so nervous — to do a pre-launch presentation about the book in front of about 100 fourth and fifth graders a few weeks ago. It was the first true litmus test of whether our approach worked.
I was blown away by how engaged the kids were and how insightful their questions and comments were. (Seriously, kids are way more insightful about technology than most adults give them credit for.) What was supposed to be a forty minute presentation stretched more than an hour because the kids had so much to say — and it gave me hope: if kids decide that they don’t want to spend all their time on smartphones; if they decide that social media is uncool (and if adults respond by helping them to have more real-life independence, fun, and freedom), then there is a real chance that we can take back childhood from Big Tech.
But don’t take my word for it. Below are a few sample thank you notes I received from the kids afterwards.
I’ve subsequently heard from journalists and friends who received advanced copies that they’ve caught their kids reading the book totally on their own (including one third grader who called to tell me that she had read the book an astonishing three times). I can’t possibly expect every kid to have this reaction, but wow, does it feel good to know that real kids are responding in this way. After all, as I’ve expressed before, this is probably the most intensely personal project I’ve ever worked on: my own daughter is ten, and I truly do see The Amazing Generation as my best shot at helping to roll back the phone-based childhood and save her generation from Big Tech. That’s why I’m so grateful to all of you who have already pre-ordered the book and/or shared it with your friends.
And now, about that launch party. . . .
Jon and I may have written The Amazing Generation, but books are powerless unless people actually read and take action on them. Which is to say: they’re powerless without YOU! That’s why we’re so excited to invite you to celebrate the book’s launch with us.
On Wednesday, January 7th from 6-7pm ET, Gayle King will be hosting a conversation between me, Jon, and special guests (including Amy Schumer — and others I don’t even know about yet!). It’s free to attend, and if you can’t make it in person, don’t worry: there’ll be a recording available afterwards. You can sign up here:
Lastly: may I ask you a favor?
If you ordered the book—and if you and your kids like it—I would be honored and grateful if you would take the time this week to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your favorite bookseller’s site.
I ask because as I learned with one of my previous books, Vitamania (which is about the history of vitamins and supplements), when you write about a big industry, one of their go-to tactics is to seed negative reviews about the book soon after its launch, to turn away potential readers (for example, by saying the book is lame and that no kids would ever want to read it). Hopefully this won’t happen, but just in case, it would be great to have your help.
And with that, I shall end this extremely long email. Here’s to scrolling less, living more, and helping our kids become amazing!
Co-author of The Amazing Generation and author of The Power of Fun, Vitamania, and How to Break Up With Your Phone
PS: Grown-ups, I have not forgotten about us! I’ll be running the 2nd annual Phone Breakup February Challenge in, well, February. Stay tuned (and subscribe) for details. . . .
Our first appearance on The Today Show:
This looks amazing!!!
congratulations!