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)

“A new understanding of what it takes to raise resilient, emotionally grounded kids.” – Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper

“Richtel approaches his experience as well as that of parents with sensitivity. Rather than casting kids as zombies or aliens, How We Grow Up insists on the continuity between young people and the adults around them, while acknowledging that the relationships involved aren’t always easy. The book’s warmth and sympathy distinguish it on the crowded shelf it occupies.” – Molly Fischer, The New Yorker

“Insightfully explored … [an] intriguing exploration of a pressing topic.” – Publishers Weekly

Matt Richtel is a health and science reporter at the New York Times. He spent nearly two years reporting on the teenage mental-health crisis for the paper’s acclaimed multipart series Inner Pandemic, which won first place in public-health reporting from the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism and inspired his book How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence. He received the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for a series of articles about distracted driving, which he expanded into his first nonfiction book, A Deadly Wandering, a New York Times bestseller. His second nonfiction book, An Elegant Defense, on the human immune system, was a national bestseller and chosen by Bill Gates for his annual Summer Reading List.