Review by Booklist Review
Marcus, a classroom teacher and mindfulness educator, opens by recounting a moment when she began to be more conscious of how tech use sometimes affects her negatively. She now uses tech in moderation, reminding readers that it doesn't have to be all or nothing: "Just as I still sometimes eat Cheetos, I still sometimes mindlessly scroll through Instagram." Next are chapters that walk students through how to think differently about their own tech use. The first chapter looks at how tech can be beneficial, especially during a time like a pandemic, and provides a useful list of youth-led or youth-oriented activist organizations to be found online. Next is a chapter that takes the lid off tech companies, telling readers how these behemoths can "monitor and change your behavior." Chapter 3 covers myths and facts about tech and could be the basis of a fun classroom true-or-false quiz to get conversation going. The remaining four chapters cover various aspects of mindfulness, with Marcus advising students what to do about all the busyness we face in this tech-fueled world. Particularly useful is a series of paired "Hijack" and "Mindful Approach" narratives that give specific advice for facing common issues (e.g., "Hijack: Fear of Missing Out" and "Mindful Approach: Return to Now"). Detailed notes, a list of recommended books and websites, and a robust index round out this lively and deeply relevant work that is a must for school and public libraries.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up--Marcus, a high school teacher, offers perspective, awareness, and activities in this title aimed at helping teens shift their relationship with technology from addiction to mindful engagement. This book guides teens to healthy tech habits by giving them agency to make informed choices. The text is presented in a creative layout with each chapter having framed panels--asides to readers--featuring journal prompts, tips for talking with parents, suggested social media accounts, and QR codes leading readers to audio meditations and mindful moments featuring the voice of the author. Readers will need to be familiar with technology and social media language as Marcus uses casual lingo such as "Insta" and "RPGs," yet balances this jargon with scientific information about brain chemistry and hormone levels. Some pages feature cartoonlike illustrations that complement the text; these pictures are inclusive of race but not ability or body size. VERDICT A recommended purchase for school and public libraries.--Ellen Sulzycki
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
In a world of ubiquitous screens, how can teens find the right balance? Marcus, a mindfulness practitioner and teacher, offers a variety of suggestions for investigating one's relationship with technology, with the goal of finding a healthy balance. She draws her readers in with an extensive consideration of ways technology helps them make connections, locate affinity groups and paths to create social change, acquire information and education, express themselves creatively, utilize organizational tools, and seek entertainment. However, she states, many elements of technology are designed to be addictive. Marcus offers pros and cons for a variety of common complaints about teens and screens, including that they interfere with mental and physical health and, some claim, damage cognitive abilities (an accusation she puts into nuanced context). With this groundwork laid, she introduces the practice of mindfulness. The second half of this self-help title offers a wide variety of ways to use mindfulness to examine one's own tech habits, notice and recover from situations in which technology may have hijacked one's attention, and identify and work toward achieving one's goals. The conversational narrative is full of specific examples, lists of activities, writing prompts, and QR codes for audio files of guided mindfulness techniques. From the very beginning, the author couches her advice as suggestive rather than prescriptive and chronicles her own steps and missteps. A valuable handbook for developing a healthy relationship with technology. (source notes, resources, index) (Nonfiction. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
