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1. Join the resistance to Big Tech’s influence on us all, but especially kids
   As a recently retired middle school educator and grandparent of school-age children, I can’t say enough about Slaying Digital Dragons. It seems the mainstream press is completely absorbed by the questionable ethics, potential lawsuits and global power that is Big Tech, but little attention is being paid to the generations who were born and raised in the digital world, let alone how to protect them from being emotionally and intellectually exploited.The timeliness of this book is extraordinary, as parents and educators search for ways to understand and protect these generations as they course through hours, days and months of their lives online with video games, social media, TikTok and texting.Packer’s book is a crucial tool for teens, parents and children in the fight to resist the heavy-handed manipulation and exploitation that is taking place these days by Facebook, Google and other media giants. The book is more than just a crucial read: it can easily be modified for use in grade 7-12 classrooms, and even makes available the worksheets as 8.5 x 11 downloadable reproducibles, ready to use by classroom teachers – for free.As more and more attention is being paid to digital literacy for students, this book goes the extra mile in illuminating how Big Tech manipulates users. Through a series of lively and often funny commentary and exercises, Packer shows kids how to develop self-awareness regarding digital content, including how to defend and protect themselves from manipulation. If I could, I would give this book 10 stars!

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2. Our digital devices can be harmful
   Many of us sense that the use of our digital devices can be harmful. But at last it is Dr. Packer, through his engaging, enlightening, and well documented book, who exposes us to the “Dark Side.”He is not a scold but rather an ally. The tools he provides to evaluate the extent of one’s personal harm are invaluable. It can be challenging to recognize the role each of us unwillingly serves as we expose ourselves to the exploitative gathering of our personal data. It is hard to acknowledge that we are, in fact, enablers.As is often said – knowledge in itself can be power. That, of course, depends. The author has given us the knowledge to make a positive difference to our well-being. But the true value of his effort will be when each of us take on his challenge to RESIST.Unfortunately, there is no force for good which can take on this mission for us. Change seems to come one person at a time. And that task is left to each of us. We do have the power to seize control from Big Tech.Please read this book. (It may be meant for teen-agers, but this adult has found it a worthy read, indeed.) Give it to your family and friends. It is a seminal work, published at a pivotal moment.

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3. Catchy, informed, smart-ass…
   Take advantage of Amazon’s offer to “Look inside” this book and go the very first page of the text. It begins with the author saying, “I don’t need to tell you how wonderful smartphones are.” This is immediately followed by a response from a teenager (in a word balloon) saying, “Something tells me you’re about to.” This sort of catchy smart-ass dialogue characterizes this entire book. It’s fun to read. The pages are full of cartoons, funky fonts, quizzes, and irreverent text. But it just so happens that the same pages are also full of informed and useful information. Right from the start, the author lets his teenage audience know he’s on their side by acknowledging how much fun and essential the digital world can be. But having gotten their attention, he delivers approximately a pound and a half of practical advice on how not to let such a good thing turn bad.

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4. Great for teens (and the rest of us)
   The author applies a light touch to a heavy subject: navigating life online. And he does it with an attitude that appeals to a teenager’s need to assert independence. In this case–independence from an overly digital life. He’s not saying “no internet,” but he is saying there’s a lot of life to be lived off of your smartphone.The one sentence that stopped me in my tracks was “In 15 years, over the period of time that smartphone use by teens soared to become almost universal, the number of teens who see friends in person every day or nearly every day dropped in half!” That is just frightening.To be honest, it wouldn’t hurt us “non-teens” to spend less time looking at our screens. Like G.B. Shaw said, Youth shouldn’t be wasted on the young. The same could be said of Dr. Packer’s advice.

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5. If there are children in your life, they (and you) need this book!
   An engaging and humor filled account of how internet use is affecting the lives of our younger generation, to whom it speaks, and how this can be modified in a positive way. If you are looking for a resource to help adolescents and teenagers cope with big tech’s onslaught of psychological manipulation for the purpose of addicting users in order to rake in profits, this is it. This book outlines ways to evaluate positive and negative aspects of internet use, and then empowers young people to make positive changes. It doesn’t lecture at them or moralize, it gives them the tools to evaluate their on-line experience and to change it for the better. And it’s eyeopening, fun and engaging. Your kids absolutely need to read this!

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