Book Nook - Humanaissance: Igniting Courage in Our Teens and Ourselves

Our present world is being continuously more impacted by AI. So how can we as parents encourage the next generation of teens to bring out even more of their humanities? According to Jennifer S. Miller, MEd, we can help them lead the way for a rebirth of connection, learning, and wisdom. 

“From brain science, we know that our teenagers are primed for creative brilliance beyond any other time and age,” says Miller. “Five essential aspects of our teenagers’ development create the conditions in which they may be the most receptive to creativity and innovation in their lives. These include: novelty seeking, driven by rewards, risk innocent, passion, driven, and abstract thinking.”

 

Miller is founder of Confident Parents, Confident Kids. I had a chance to review her new book, Humanaissance: Igniting Courage in Our Teens and Ourselves [October 20, 2026 | Health Communications, Inc.]. In the book, Miller uses the science of adolescent and adult development, the heart of storytelling, and the practices of mindfulness to give this time of life agency, purpose, and well-being.

The focus of the book is on courage and strength, using emotions that might seem negative (anger, anxiety, and fear) to bolster confidence and make change. It specifically encourages families to recalibrate their relationships with technology and also help teens increase their sense of purpose and fulfillment.

 

It's a well-written book, optimistic but realistic about the challenges teens face and how they can have the courage to be themselves.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

For more than thirty years, Jennifer S. Miller, MEd, has collaborated with educators and families to help them become more effective with children and teens by learning how to support their development. She authored and illustrated the book Confident Parents, Confident Kids: Raising Emotional Intelligence in Ourselves and in Our Kids from Toddlers to Teenagers named as Top Parenting Book of 2020 by the Greater Good Science Center. She founded the organization by the same name growing an international platform through her blog with more than 24,000 followers in 152 countries world-wide.

She has served as an expert contributor to NBC’s TODAY Parenting, PBS WNET, and Fred Rogers Productions. She has written and offered expertise for numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and Parent Magazine.

 

She conducted and published original peer-reviewed research with partner scholars entitled, “Parenting for Competence and

Parenting with Competence.” She consults with schools, conducts research, and creates tools on parenting with partners at the National Parent Teacher Association, National University, Montana State University, and at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Research in this book was supported by the M.I.T. Presencing Institute.

 

She frequently speaks at conferences, offers coaching to parents, and conducts workshops in Ohio and nationally. She has a master’s degree in Instructional Leadership with a focus on child and adolescent development and lives with her husband and eighteen-year-old son in Columbus, Ohio.