The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price

Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price’s The Amazing Generation is an energetic, accessible and strikingly optimistic guide for children and tweens navigating life in a screen-saturated world. Inspired by the arguments of The Anxious Generation, this adaptation reshapes complex ideas about technology, wellbeing and development into a form that feels inviting rather than admonishing. The result is a book that speaks directly to young readers with clarity, warmth and confidence, while still offering substance for adults reading alongside them.

Rather than following a conventional narrative, the book unfolds as a hybrid of illustrated nonfiction, graphic storytelling and interactive challenges. A recurring comic thread traces the experiences of a group of friends over the course of a school year, showing how different choices around phones and social media shape their moods, friendships and sense of self. These moments are interwoven with short explanatory sections that unpack how apps are designed, why they are so compelling, and how habits form. The structure mirrors the fast-moving attention of its audience, yet remains coherent and purposeful.

Characterisation emerges less through deep psychological portraiture and more through recognisable archetypes. Readers are likely to see themselves, or their peers, in the enthusiastic scroller, the anxious comparer, or the quiet rebel who steps back from the screen. This familiarity is one of the book’s strengths. It avoids shaming and instead validates the emotional pull of online life, while gently encouraging readers to notice how it makes them feel over time.

The central theme is agency. Haidt and Price frame young people not as passive victims of technology, but as capable decision-makers who can choose how they engage with it. By casting tech companies as clever operators with clear incentives, the book taps into the natural idealism and rebellious streak of preteens and teenagers. This framing feels empowering rather than alarmist, inviting readers to see reduced screen use as an act of independence rather than deprivation.

Overall, the tone is upbeat, conversational and deliberately hopeful. Scientific ideas are simplified without being trivialised, and personal anecdotes help ground abstract concepts in lived experience. The heavy use of visuals and varied formats keeps the pace lively, though some examples of offline activities may feel familiar rather than expansive. Even so, the emphasis is not on prescribing specific hobbies, but on rediscovering curiosity, effort and shared experience.

In terms of literary significance, The Amazing Generation stands out as a thoughtful contribution to contemporary children’s nonfiction. It responds to urgent cultural concerns without moral panic, and trusts its audience to think critically about their own lives. As a bridge between research-driven critique and practical

encouragement, it offers young readers something rare: not just warnings about the digital world, but a compelling vision of who they might become beyond it.

Reviewer: Chris Reed

Puffin