“Rock-solid advice for harried parents in a world that shows no signs of slowing down.”
— Kirkus
When her ground-breaking book The Price of Privilege came out in 2006, respected clinician Madeline Levine was the first to correctly identify the deficits created by parents giving kids of privilege too much of the wrong things and not enough of the right things. Continuing to address the mistaken notions about what children need to thrive in Teach Your Children Well, Levine tore down the myth that good grades, high test scores, and college acceptances should define the parenting endgame. The Price of Privilege has sold over 150,000 copies in all formats and both books were New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle bestsellers.
In her highly anticipated follow-up READY OR NOT: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World (Harper, February 2020), she continues the discussion, showing how these same parenting practices, combined with a desperate need to shelter children from discomfort and anxiety, are setting future generations up to fail spectacularly.
Increasingly, the world we know has become disturbing, unfamiliar, and even threatening. In the wake of uncertainty and rapid change, adults are doubling-down on the pressure-filled parenting style that pushes children to excel. Yet these daunting expectations, combined with the stress parents feel and unwittingly project onto their children, are leading to a generation of young people who are overwhelmed, exhausted, distressed—and unprepared for the future that awaits them. While these damaging effects are known, the world into which these children are coming of age is not. And continuing to focus primarily on grades and performance are leaving kids more ill-prepared than ever to navigate the challenges to come.
But there is hope. Using the latest developments in neuroscience and epigenetics (the intersection of genetics and environment), as well as extensive research gleaned from captains of industry, entrepreneurs, military leaders, scientists, academics, and futurists, Levine identifies the skills that children need to succeed in a tumultuous future: adaptability, mental agility, curiosity, collaboration, tolerance for failure, resilience, and optimism. Most important, Levine offers day-to-day solutions parents can use to raise kids who are prepared, enthusiastic, and ready to face an unknown future with confidence and optimism.
Dr. Madeline Levine, PhD, is a clinician, consultant, educator and speaker, and the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The Price of Privilege and Teach Your Children Well. She is a cofounder of Challenge Success, a project of the Stanford Graduate School of Education that provides families and schools with the practical, research-based tools they need to create a more balanced and academically fulfilling life for kids. She also is a consultant to BDT & Company and their clients, a merchant bank that advises and invests in founder and family-led companies. In addition to doing media to discuss her books, she has become a go-to person for producers and journalists around the world who report on education and parenting (like the recent college bribery scandal). She has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Fox & Friends, Nightline, 20/20, Dateline, MSNBC, and on numerous NPR radio shows including On Point and Forum. She has been interviewed by and written original pieces for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, and many other outlets. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and is the proud mother of three grown sons and a newly minted grandmother.
READY OR NOT is the answer for parents, educators, and therapists who are hungry for tangible steps to help children grow up and become successful as self-actualized adults in the new and tumultuous world that is emerging in the 21st century.
PRAISE FOR MADELINE LEVINE’S NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS
“Levine’s latest book is, in fact, a cri de coeur from a clinician on the front lines of the battle between our better natures – parents’ deep and true love and concern for their kids – and our culture’s worst competitive and materialistic influences, all of which she sees played out, day after day, in her private psychology practice in affluent Marin County, Calif. . . . Levine has good, if familiar, lessons for parents about the virtues of teaching empathy; encouraging the development of an authentic self; and making time for dreaming, creating and unstructured outdoor play. But she really comes into her own – and will, if widely read, make an indelible mark on our parenting culture – when she moves beyond child development to concentrate instead on parent development, exploring why we do the misguided things we do, and asking how we must (as we must) change ourselves and behave differently.”
— Judith Warner, New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice)
“Here’s one potentially bright and shiny opportunity for optimism (at least if you take her advice) thanks to one busy and one hope’s wise clinical psychologist . . .. Her insights are fresh . . . look no further for your Beach Book, here it is!”
— Psychology Today
“Powerful text. . .. Parents who want their kids to succeed without compromising their health or losing the joy of learning will be buoyed by Levine’s support, encouragement, and guidance.”
— Publishers Weekly