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 and early teens. Their goal? To empower young people to stand up for themselves by choosing a life not dominated by screens.

Written for nine- to twelve-year-olds—and relevant whether or not they 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.

Contributor Bio

Jonathan Haidt (pronounced height) is a social psychologist and professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. His early research was on morality, emotion, and culture, but since 2018 he has been studying the contributions of social media to the decline of teen mental health and the rise of political dysfunction. He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis and of three New York Timesbestsellers: The Righteous Mind, The Coddling of the American Mind(with Greg Lukianoff), and the international bestseller The Anxious Generation. His goal is to help young people and democracies flourish in the digital age.

Catherine Price is an author, speaker, health and science journalist, and former middle school teacher. Her bestselling books include The Power of Funand How to Break Up with Your Phone, and she is the author of the How to Feel Alive Substack newsletter. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Popular Science,and her TED talk on fun has been viewed more than 5 million times. Her goal is to help people of all ages scroll less and live more.

Cynthia Yuan Cheng graduated from MICA with a B.F.A. in Illustration. Their debut graphic novel in the Baby-sitters Club series, Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery,is a New York Times Bestseller and their graphic novel Win is forthcoming.