How We Grow Up

“Matt Richtel takes us on a powerful journey to understand the forces shaping the lives of adolescents. As we navigate a profound youth mental health crisis, this book could not be more important or timely. This is essential reading for parents, policymakers, educators and anyone who cares about helping our kids live their best lives.“  — Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States”In today’s rapidly changing world, we’ve created fearful children instead of resilient ones. With this powerful new book, Matt Richtel addresses the mounting challenges that adolescents face, offering a path to transform anxiety into resourcefulness and opportunity. His insights give parents and educators practical tools to help young people navigate their complex reality and build the strength they will need for tomorrow. If you care about young people, this is one of the best books you’ll ever read.“  — James P. Steyer, Founder and CEO, Common Sense Media”This book should be at the bedside of every parent who believes they are alone but really aren’t. A vivid set of inquiries into the science, social history, and personal experience of adolescence.” — Kirkus Reviews”A timely and essential consideration of the science of adolescence…The compassion of Richtel’s book equals the rigor of his research….Should be on all library shelves alongside Jonathan Haidt’s bestselling The Anxious Generation.” — Library Journal (starred review)

Matt Richtel has been a reporter at the New York Times since 2000. He won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series that exposed the pervasive risks of distracted driving and its root causes, prompting widespread reform. He is the author of A Deadly Wandering, which the New York Times Book Review declared, “deserves a spot next to Fast Food Nation and To Kill a Mockingbird in America’s high school curriculum”; it was named a “best book of the year” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, Kirkus Reviews, and Winnipeg Free Press. He has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air, PBS Newshour, and other major media outlets. He lives in San Francisco, California.