In an age of misinformation related to parenting advice and support, Growing Minds is just the ticket for an evidence-informed approach to parenting. 

When it comes to raising and educating children, we too often wait downstream, managing the fall when things go wrong. Instead, we should be moving upstream to fix the bridge. What I love about this book is that it equips the reader with a proactive approach to parenting. Katy masterfully moves through some of the biggest pressure points of our time for young people and their families. She unpacks the evidence linked to nutrition, neuroscience, habit-breaking and formation, and more – and rather than presenting this research data in a raw, overwhelming format, Katy helpfully bridges the gap between the key findings and daily family life. 

Parenting is a full-time job. It’s about time we had a proper induction process, an objective resource base, and an evidence-informed approach to getting things right. This book is a timely contribution to this mission. 

In a world where tech companies are using brain science to capture teenagers’ attention, this book draws on research into the adolescent brain to offer practical strategies that will enable young people to flourish. Growing Minds is a much-needed handbook for all who want to help teens make wise decisions, form healthy habits, develop resilience, and build lives of meaning and purpose.

Teen stress is skyrocketing in an age overflowing with brain-building superpowers – yet, as this book shows, even tiny shifts in how teens sleep, move, and focus can rewire their brains for flourishing. Growing Minds: The Science of Raising Thriving Teens is that rare book that is both scientifically rigorous and immediately usable in everyday life with teens. As a university professor teaching undergraduates and working at the intersection of flourishing and organisations, and as a father of two adult children, I experience this work as a beautifully integrated view of the teenage brain – choices, emotions, bodies, and lives – brought together in a coherent, research-grounded narrative. Granville-Chapman, with Lazar and Seldon, weaves contemporary neuroscience, psychology, and physiology into accessible tools, endnoted with care yet always translated into concrete practices for families. The book advances the literature by connecting brain health, meaning, and relationships in adolescence, and by framing parenting as the design of contexts that shape attention, habits, stress, and purpose. For practitioners, it offers a flexible toolkit, honouring the diversity of teens and families. I strongly recommend Growing Minds to anyone who lives with, teaches, coaches, counsels, or leads teenagers.

Every day we seem besieged by the ‘latest breakthrough discoveries in neuroscience’. It can feel overwhelming. Growing Minds: The Science of Raising Thriving Teens makes this abundance of findings manageable and actionable. Ancient wisdom is skillfully integrated, too. When the authors point out that teens need to know from their parents that ‘our love is non-negotiable, even in conflict’, they are sharing both good science and the deep wisdom that predates science. Throughout the book, thoughtful explanations of how the brain and nervous system work (giving us the ‘why’) are paired with practical guidance to help parents create the conditions for their teens to flourish (giving us the ‘how’). For example, if teens say that they have no friends, the book provides seven tools to change that dreadful, but increasingly common, situation. There are dozens more tools for so many issues, but also sage advice on how to use them (such as keeping rewards unpredictable) – all in the service of promoting flourishing.

If you are looking for a gift for a friend or relative raising teens, this is it! What the authors have offered to the world is a work of love of the highest order.

Growing Minds is a much-needed handbook on how we can help teenagers to thrive. Far from painting a doom-and-gloom picture about the youth of today, it gives an optimistic assessment of the potential of our young people and argues that, equipped with the right tools and techniques, parents have enormous powers to improve their children’s brain health and enable them to flourish.

In each section, clearly explained neuroscience and well-referenced research lead swiftly into practical, bite-sized advice. Every chapter ends with a helpful summary and top tips for busy families, along with a useful template for personal action points and pledges.

The authors are grounded, reassuring, and realistic in their advice for parents. But the readership of Growing Minds should also extend to school teachers and leaders, tutors, pastoral staff, and coaches. The book’s pages are teeming with material that would enrich assemblies, tutorial programmes, and training sessions. Thoroughly recommended!

Katy Granville-Chapman recognises the challenges of raising teens in a world that often works against their wellbeing. In Growing Minds she recognises that screens, processed food, stress, constantly being online, and high levels of social comparison can actively hijack young people’s reward systems, but she never leaves us parents feeling lost. Instead, she offers us the science and practical tools behind small, achievable steps we can all take towards helping our kids build the resilience they need to flourish.

The central message is reassuring: resilience is not about toughness, perfection, or constant positivity. It’s built in our homes and society through repeated moments of safety, connection, repair, and self-understanding. I especially valued the tools that emphasise listening well, modelling calm, and helping teenagers understand their emotions rather than suppress them.

For parents who feel overwhelmed by modern adolescence, this book is compassionate, evidence-based, easy to follow, and most importantly, non-judgemental. Growing Minds is a treasure chest of tools that explains what is happening in a teenager’s developing brain, then shows us parents how to work with that biology to build resilience rather than fight it.