The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better
By Jenny Anderson
$20.00
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Publication Date: January 6, 2026
| Availability: | On our shelves now |
“Our education systems are shortchanging far too many teenagers. This book is brimming with insights on how to change that. It’s an engaging, evidence-based, and practical read about how to develop a generation of lifelong learners.”—Adam Grant, author of Hidden Potential and Think Again
A powerful toolkit for parents of both checked-out and stressed-out teens that shows exactly what to do (and stop doing) to support their academic and emotional flourishing.
Adolescents are hardwired to explore and grow—but a shocking majority of teens are disengaged from school, simultaneously bored and overwhelmed. For the past five years, award-winning journalist Jenny Anderson and the Brookings Institution’s global education expert Rebecca Winthrop have been investigating why so many children lose their love of learning in adolescence. Now, weaving extensive original research with real-world stories of kids who transformed their relationships with learning, they identify four modes of learning that students use to navigate the shifting academic demands and social dynamics of middle and high school:
• Resister. When kids resist, they struggle silently with profound feelings of inadequacy or invisibility, ignoring homework or skipping class.
• Passenger. When kids coast, consistently doing the bare minimum and complaining that classes are pointless, they lose interest.
• Achiever. When kids show up, do the work, and excel, their self-worth can become tied to high performance.
• Explorer. When kids are driven by internal curiosity rather than just external expectations, they investigate the questions they care about and persist to achieve goals.
Understanding your child’s learning modes is vital for helping them shape their internal narratives about their skills and potential, nurturing their ability to become Explorers. Anderson and Winthrop outline simple yet counterintuitive parenting strategies for connecting with your child, building their self-awareness and emotional regulation, and igniting their curiosity.
Publication History:Crown HC 01/25
A powerful toolkit for parents of both checked-out and stressed-out teens that shows exactly what to do (and stop doing) to support their academic and emotional flourishing.
Adolescents are hardwired to explore and grow—but a shocking majority of teens are disengaged from school, simultaneously bored and overwhelmed. For the past five years, award-winning journalist Jenny Anderson and the Brookings Institution’s global education expert Rebecca Winthrop have been investigating why so many children lose their love of learning in adolescence. Now, weaving extensive original research with real-world stories of kids who transformed their relationships with learning, they identify four modes of learning that students use to navigate the shifting academic demands and social dynamics of middle and high school:
• Resister. When kids resist, they struggle silently with profound feelings of inadequacy or invisibility, ignoring homework or skipping class.
• Passenger. When kids coast, consistently doing the bare minimum and complaining that classes are pointless, they lose interest.
• Achiever. When kids show up, do the work, and excel, their self-worth can become tied to high performance.
• Explorer. When kids are driven by internal curiosity rather than just external expectations, they investigate the questions they care about and persist to achieve goals.
Understanding your child’s learning modes is vital for helping them shape their internal narratives about their skills and potential, nurturing their ability to become Explorers. Anderson and Winthrop outline simple yet counterintuitive parenting strategies for connecting with your child, building their self-awareness and emotional regulation, and igniting their curiosity.
Publication History:Crown HC 01/25
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