It’s no secret that toy and media corporations manipulate the insecurities of parents to move their products, but Buy, Buy Baby unveils the chilling fact that these corporations are using — and often funding — the latest research in child development in order to sell things directly to babies and toddlers. Underlying these revelations is a dangerous economic and cultural shift: our kids are becoming consumers at alarmingly young ages and suffering all the ills that rampant materialism used to visit only on adults — from anxiety to hyper-competitiveness to depression. Thomas blends prodigious reportage with an empathetic voice. Her two daughters were toddlers while she wrote this book, and she never loses sight of the temporal and emotional challenges that parents face. She shows how we can help our kids live at their natural pace, not the frenetic clip that serves only the toddler-industrial complex.

Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children. Joel Bakan, $18.00 

CHILDHOOD UNDER SIEGE reveals big business's discovery of a new resource to be mined for profit — our children. It’s a winner-takes-all battle for children’s hearts, minds and bodies as corporations pump billions into rendering parents and governments powerless to protect children from their calculated commercial assault and its disturbing toll on their health and well-being. CHILDHOOD UNDER SIEGE is a shocking venture behind the scenes of the widespread manipulation of children by profit-seeking corporations — and of society’s failure to protect them.

Circles of Round. Signe Sturup, $22.95

Despite the odd bump in the road, all the Circles in the town called Round live happy lives. Until, one day, an obtuse stranger comes to visit, with an even stranger machine. Called the Corner Transformer, the stranger boasts that it will give them all a new angle on life, and a better shape, too. All the circles eagerly try it out, but changing from Circles to squares and triangles isn't quite what they expected. Simply yet strikingly illustrated with photos of three-dimensional shapes made of paper, this story is a great way to introduce children to the powers of advertising.  

Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole. Benjamin Barber, $21.95

Consumed offers a vivid portrait of an overproducing global economy that targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers and where the primary goal is no longer to manufacture goods but needs... He asserts that in place of the Protestant ethic once associated with capitalism — encouraging self-restraint, preparing for the future, protecting and self-sacrificing for children and community, and other characteristics of adulthood — we are constantly being seduced into an “infantilist” ethic of consumption.

CyberSafe. Gwenn Schurgin O’Keefe, $16.95

Protecting and empowering kids in the digital world of texting, gaming and social media.

Digital Kids: How to Balance Screen Time, and Why it Matters. Martin Kutscher, $19.95

For many children and teens daily Internet use is the norm — but where should we draw the line when it comes to digital media usage? This handy book lays out the essential information needed to understand and prevent excessive Internet use that negatively impacts behaviour, education, family life, and even physical health.

Martin Kutscher, MD analyses neurological, psychological and educational research and draws on his own experience to show when Internet use stops being a good thing and starts to become excessive. He shows how to spot digital addictions, and offers whole family approaches for limiting the harmful effects of too much screen time, such as helping kids to learn to control their own Internet use. He tackles diverse questions ranging from the effects of laptops in the classroom and reading on a digital screen, to whether violent videogames lead to aggression. The author also explains how ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can make you more susceptible to Internet addiction, suggesting practical strategies to suit these specific needs. Discussing both the good and bad aspects of the internet, this book tells you everything you need to know to help children and young people use the internet in a healthy, balanced way.

Marc Prensky presents the case that the video and computer games your child plays can be beneficial and offer excellent opportunities for learning a multitude of skills. From collaboration and conflict resolution skills to prudent risk taking; strategy formation and execution to complex moral and ethical decisions; from hand-eye coordination to comprehensive computer knowledge — computer and video games can offer children skills for life in the 21st century.

Thoughtful and provocative, Prensky offers some insight and entertaining arguments for re-framing the hype and learning to work with — not against — a cultural phenomenon that is not going away.

Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds — and What We Can Do about It. Jane Healy, $29.99

Few parents and educators stop to consider that computers, used incorrectly, may do far more harm than good to a child's growing brain and social/emotional development. In this comprehensive and practical guide to kids and computers, Jane Healy examines the advantages and drawbacks of computer use for kids at home and school, exploring its effects on their health, mental development, and creativity. In addition, this timely and eye-opening book presents: 

• Concrete examples of how to develop a technology plan and use computers successfully with children of different age groups as supplements to classroom curricula, as research tools, or in family projects
• Resources for reliable reviews of child-oriented software
• Questions parents should ask when their children are using computers in school
• Advice on how to manage computer use at home

Gender and the Media. Rosalind Gill, $26.99

Written in a clear and accessible style, with plenty of examples from British and American media, this book offers a critical introduction to the study of gender in the media and an up-to-date assessment of the key issues and debates.

Getting Started with Coding: Get Creative with Code! Camille McCue, $9.99

Getting Started with Coding is here to help kids get started with the basics of coding. It walks young readers through fun projects that were tested in the classroom. Each project has an end-goal to instill confidence and a sense of achievement in young coders.

Steering clear of jargon and confusing terminology, Getting Started with Coding is written in clear, instructive language. Plus, the full-color design is heavy on eye-catching graphics and the format is focused on the steps to completing a project, making it approachable for any young person with an interest in exploring the wonderful world of coding.

• Introduces the basics of coding to create a drawing tool
• Teaches how to create graphics and apply code to make them do things
• Shows how to make things that respond to motion and collision commands
• Introduces score-keeping and timing into coding

The iConnected Parent: Staying Close to Your Kids in College (and Beyond) While Letting Them Grow Up. Barbara Hofer & Abigail Sullivan Moore, $18.95

In our speed-dial culture, parents and kids are now more than ever in constant contact. Communicating an average of thirteen times a week, parents and their college-age kids are having a hard time letting go.

Until recently, students handled college on their own, learning life's lessons and growing up in the process. Now, many students turn to their parents for instant answers to everyday questions. And Mom and Dad are not just the Google and Wikipedia for overcoming daily pitfalls; Hofer and Moore have discovered that some parents get involved in unprecedented ways, phoning professors and classmates, choosing their child's courses, and even crossing the lines set by university honor codes with the academic help they provide. Hofer and Moore offer practical advice, from the years before college through the years after graduation, on how parents can stay connected to their kids while giving them the space they need to become independent adults.

iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold On Us. Larry Rosen, $29.00

iDisorder: changes to your brain’s ability to process information and your ability to relate to the world due to your daily use of media and technology resulting in signs and symptoms of psychological disorders — such as stress, sleeplessness, and a compulsive need to check in with all of your technology.

Dr. Larry Rosen offers solid, proven strategies to help us overcome the iDisorder we all feel in our lives while still making use of all that technology offers. Our world is not going to change, and technology will continue to penetrate society even deeper leaving us little chance to react to the seemingly daily additions to our lives. Rosen teaches us how to stay human in an increasingly technological world.

iRules: What Every Tech-Healthy Family Needs to Know about Selfies, Sexting, Gaming, and Growing Up. Janell Burley Hofmann, $19.99

In iRules, Janell Burley Hofmann provides families with the tools they need to find a balance between technology and human interaction through a philosophy she calls Slow Tech Parenting. In the book, she educates parents about the online culture tweens and teens enter the minute they go online, exploring issues like cyberbullying, friend fail, and sexting, as well as helping parents create their own iRules contracts to fit their families’ needs. As funny and readable as it is prescriptive, iRules will help parents figure out when to unplug and how to stay in sync with the changing world of technology, while teaching their children self-respect, integrity, and responsibility.

i-SAFE Internet Safety Activities: Reproducible Projects for Teachers and Parents, Grades K-8. i-SAFE, $35.95

Most school-age children use the Internet every day. However, many possess naive attitudes about their online safety and can inadvertently engage in a range of high-risk behaviors. Developed by i-SAFE™, the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to Internet safety education, this important resource offers a series of fun lessons and teachers' guides to help students in grades K-8 learn how to stay safe online.

Filled with activities, this easy-to-use guide helps elementary and middle school students develop their Internet skills while keeping safe.

It’s a Book. Lane Smith, $15.99

A mouse, a monkey and a jackass. And a book.

It's Complicated: the Social Lives of Networked Teens. Danah Boyd, $34.95

What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens’ lives? This eye-opening book uncovers some of the major myths regarding teens' use of social media, exploring tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Ultimately, author Danah Boyd argues that society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers’ ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions. Yet despite an environment of rampant fear-mongering, Boyd finds that teens often find ways to engage and to develop a sense of identity.

Boyd’s conclusions are essential reading not only for parents, teachers, and others who work with teens but also for anyone interested in the impact of emerging technologies on society, culture, and commerce in years to come. Offering insights gleaned from more than a decade of original fieldwork interviewing teenagers across the United States, Boyd concludes reassuringly that the kids are all right. At the same time, she acknowledges that coming to terms with life in a networked era is not easy or obvious. In a technologically mediated world, life is bound to be complicated.

Keeping Foster Children Safe Online: Positive Strategies to Prevent Cyberbullying, Inappropriate Contact, and Other Digital Dangers. John DeGarmo, $22.95

Foster children are more likely than other children to be involved in risky activities online due to backgrounds of neglect and abuse, an absence of supportive adults, lower self-esteem, and greater exposure to drugs and alcohol. Covering all the dangers of online technology that your foster child might encounter, from cyberbullying and "sexting", to child grooming and online hoaxes, this book pays particular attention to dangers unique to foster families, such as the difficulties internet access poses for maintaining formal arrangements for contact with birth families.

DeGarmo equips foster parents and professionals with strategies to keep foster children safe online, giving tips on establishing expectations for internet usage, advice on how to prevent inappropriate contact and protect personal information, and explaining the importance of "netiquette". An indispensable guide to negotiating online dangers, this is required reading for all foster families as well as residential child care workers, social workers and other professionals working with children in care.

Kid Culture: the Hip Parent’s Handbook to Navigating Books, Music, TV and Movies in the Digital Age. Todd Tobias & Lou Harry, $16.95

This handy reference offers some sage advice and a few laughs on the best — and the worst — of kid culture.

#lightwebdarkweb: Three Reasons to Reform Social Media Be4 It Re-Forms Us. Raffi Cavoukian, $18.95

#lightwebdarkweb makes the case for the critical need to reform social media, especially for young users. Its author, Raffi Cavoukian, the renowned singer, Raffi, is also a writer, systems thinker, and founder of the Centre For Child Honouring. He offers three reasons for social media reform: safety, intelligence, and sustainability. A response to the suicide of Vancouver teen Amanda Todd after years of online harassment, and dedicated to her, #lightwebdarkweb is a call for sanity in the digital age:

• social media providers must make systemic changes for young users safety
• parents need to regulate their kids’ screen time and social media use
• society can optimize the benefits of the Internet only by reducing its shadow of social, ecological and health hazards.

#lightwebdarkweb highlights children’s developmental needs as a key missing consideration in the digital revolution. The result is a much-needed book for our times.

lol … OMG! What Every Student Needs to Know about Online Reputation Management, Digital Citizenship, and Cyberbullying. Matt Ivester, $21.95

The ease with which digital content can be shared online has, in addition to its many benefits, has created a host of problems for today’s high school and college students. All too often, students are uploading, updating, posting and publishing without giving a second thought to who might see their content or how it might be perceived.

lol… OMG! provides a cautionary look at the many ways that today’s students are experiencing the unanticipated negative consequences of their digital decisions — from lost job opportunities and denied college and graduate school admissions to full-blown national scandals. It also examines how technology is allowing students to bully one another in new and disturbing ways, and why students are often crueler online than in person. By using real-life case studies and offering actionable strategies and best practices, this book empowers students to clean up and maintain a positive online presence, and to become responsible digital citizens.

Made You Look, 2nd Edition: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know. Shari Graydon, illustrated by Michelle Lamoreaux, $16.95 (Gr. 6+)

For ten years, MADE YOU LOOK has been an essential self-defense guide for anyone trying to make sense of the complex world of advertising. Now fully revised and with a fresh new look, the book has been updated to reflect the modern ad landscape, from digital tracking and cookies (not the chocolate chip kind!) to social media, viral videos, and reality television. From the earliest roots of advertising to the undercover marketers of the 21st century, this revealing book shows readers where ads come from, how they work, and why kids need to be informed. Bursting with real-life examples, thought-provoking questions, hip illustrations, and plenty of tips to empower young consumers, MADE YOU LOOK is every kid’s ultimate guide to the advertising universe.

Making YouTube Videos: Star in Your Own Video! Nick Willoughby, $9.99

The fast and easy way for kids to shoot, edit, and share videos on YouTube. Whether looking to go viral or simply wanting to make videos for their friends, Making YouTube Videos is the place to start. Written by a filmmaking expert who runs camps for wanna-be filmmakers as young as seven, this fun and friendly guide takes you step by step through the process: from idea creation to production to sharing on YouTube.

Filled with eye-popping graphics that make the information come to life, Making YouTube Videos takes the intimidation out of working with video technology and offers your child a friendly, trusted source for expressing their creativity.

• Introduces ideas on framing, lighting, and sound
• Shows kids how to load a video, add transitions, and add effects
• Provides easy-to-follow instruction on uploading a video to YouTube and setting who can see or not see their video
• Explains how to grab free software and make simple edits, like cutting out scenes, adding to a timeline, and implementing transitions

The Material Child: Growing Up in Consumer Culture. David Buckingham, $26.95

Children today are growing up in an increasingly commercialized world. But should we see them as victims of manipulative marketing, or as competent participants in consumer culture?

THE MATERIAL CHILD provides a comprehensive critical overview of debates about children's changing engagement with the commercial market. It moves from broad overviews of the theory and history of children's consumption to insightful case studies of key areas such as obesity, sexualization, children's broadcasting and education.

In the process, it challenges much of the received wisdom about the effects of advertising and marketing, arguing for a more balanced account that locates children's consumption within a broader analysis of social relationships, for example within the family and the peer group. While refuting the popular view of children as incompetent and vulnerable consumers that is adopted by many campaigners, it also rejects the easy celebration of consumption as an expression of children's power and autonomy.

Media, Gender and Identity. David Gauntlett, $39.95

This highly readable book explores theories about popular culture and the relationship between media and identity. Along with an outline of creative approaches to exploring the media’s influence on gender identity, Gauntlett discusses film, magazines, TV, self-help books, YouTube and more, to show how media plays a role in the shaping of self-perception.

Modding Minecraft: Build Your Own Minecraft Mods! Sarah Guthals, Stephen Foster & Lindsey Handley, $9.99

There’s no doubt about it: Minecraft has taken the world by storm. Modding allows Minecraft players to modify the game through code — giving them the ability to add a variety of gameplay changes, ranging from new blocks and items to new mechanisms to craft. It’s pretty much a Minecraft enthusiast’s dream brought to life!

Walking young readers through projects that outline how to create games in Minecraft for single or multiple players, this friendly and accessible guide takes the intimidation out of coding and instills confidence in children as young as seven as they complete cool coding projects to mod their favorite game. Full-color, eye-popping graphics and a short page count hold their attention while the goal-based format keeps them focused on the task at hand.

• Kids can complete the projects on their own or alongside an adult
• Introduces getting started with a single-player, single-level game
• Moves readers on to multi-level game playing
• Finishes with a multi-level, multi-player game based on the classic “capture the flag” game

Online Safety for Children and Teens on the Autism Spectrum: a Parent's and Carer's Guide. Nicola Lonie, $22.95

Children and teens with autism can be particularly vulnerable to online dangers and this practical handbook explains how you can help your child to navigate websites, chat rooms and social media safely. Providing all the information needed to monitor, educate and guide your child's computer use, the book discusses key concerns such as parental control, social networking, grooming, cyberbullying, internet addiction and hacking. The risks and the warning signs to look out for are clearly explained alongside useful advice and examples from real-life experiences. A Digispeak Dictionary is included that decodes the cryptic language of online slang and there are downloadable forms to help record your child's internet use. The practical solutions in this book will give you peace of mind and ensure that your child can enjoy the educational and social benefits of the internet in safety.

The stereotype-laden message, delivered through clothes, music, books, and TV, is essentially a continuous plea for girls to put their energies into beauty products, shopping, fashion, and boys. This constant marketing, cheapening of relationships, absence of good women role models, and stereotyping and sexualization of girls is something that parents need to first understand before they can take action. Lamb and Brown teach parents how to understand these influences, give them guidance on how to talk to their daughters about these negative images, and provide the tools to help girls make positive choices about the way they are in the world.

Parenting for the Digital Age: the Truth Behind Media's Effect on Children, and What to Do About It. Bill Ratner, $23.95

We’ve seen it everywhere, whether a suggestive Halloween costume for a young girl, or a t-shirt for a prepubescent boy that says “Chick Magnet,” or online advertising that is blatantly trying to manipulate kids. The fact is that advertisers and the media have targeted our children with wanton abandon. What effect does this media, whether through television, online, or through mobile devices have on our children?

Bill Ratner, a long-time Hollywood insider and voice of their movie trailers, explores with in-depth research the change in advertising since 1982 and what children are currently exposed to. As a parent, educator, and veteran insider to the world of television, movies, and new media, Ratner talks openly about the problems associated with excessive screen time, children’s advertising, and what parents can do about it.

Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers: a Step-by-Step Guide to Balancing Your Child's Use of Technology. Lucy Jo Palladino, $18.95

As children spend more of their time on tablets and smartphones, using apps specially engineered to capture their attention, parents are becoming concerned about the effects of so much technology use — and they feel powerless to intervene. They want their kids to be competent and competitive in their use of technology, but they also want to prevent the attention and behavioral problems that can develop from overuse.

In this guide, Lucy Jo Palladino doesn’t demonize technology; instead she gives parents the tools to help children understand and control their attention — and to recognize and resist when their attention is being “snatched.” Palladino’s straightforward, evidence-based approach applies to kids of all ages. Parents will also learn the critical difference between voluntary and involuntary attention, new findings about brain development, and what puts children at risk for attention disorders.

The Real World of Technology.  Ursula Franklin, $19.95

In this expanded edition of her bestselling CBC Massey Lectures, renowned scientist and humanitarian Ursula M. Franklin examines the impact of technology upon our lives and addresses the extraordinary changes since The Real World of Technology was first published. In four new chapters, Franklin tackles contentious issues, such as the dilution of privacy and intellectual property rights, the impact of the current technology on government and governance, the shift from consumer capitalism to investment capitalism, and the influence of the Internet upon the craft of writing.

Reclaiming Conversation: the Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Sherry Turkle, $35.95

Renowned media scholar Sherry Turkle investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity — and why reclaiming face-to-face conversation can help us regain lost ground. Based on five years of research and interviews in homes, schools, and the workplace, Turkle argues that we have come to a better understanding of where our technology can and cannot take us and that the time is right to reclaim conversation. The most human — and humanizing — thing that we do. The virtues of person-to-person conversation are timeless, and our most basic technology, talk, responds to our modern challenges. We have everything we need to start, we have each other. 

Regulating Screens: Issues in Broadcasting and Internet Governance for Children. André Caron & Ronald Cohen, $24.95

The digital age has carried with it a tsunami of change. Children who have grown up with the delivery platforms that are a part of that change are now able to absorb more and more unregulated media on their own, often without any supervision. Bedroom computers, tablets, and smart phones provide private, individualized access to all kinds of content that may not be suitable for children. What rules and regulations exist to counter this potentially threatening environment?

In REGULATING SCREENS, André Caron and Ronald Cohen examine how governments and non-governmental organizations have been doing their part to make television and the Internet safer for children. In practical terms, they provide parents, educators, and politicians with an up-to-date inventory of the existing laws, codes, and standards in Canada, as well as information on who administers them and how they can be accessed. Given the Internet's global reach, Caron and Cohen also describe access controls in place in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

Ruby for Kids for Dummies. Christopher Haupt, $29.99

Ruby For Kids gears you up to expand your technology skills and learn this popular programming language. Written in a way that's easy to follow — and keeping the super tech-heavy stuff to a minimum — it quickly and easily shows you how to use Ruby to create web and mobile applications with no experience required.

Ruby is considered one of the best and simplest languages to start with when you're learning coding. This fun and friendly guide makes it even easier. Broken down into simple projects designed to appeal to younger programmers, Ruby For Kids gets you up and running with core coding concepts in no time. Before you know it, you'll be tackling hands-on projects, enjoying the support of a vibrant community, and feeling a sense of accomplishment as you complete projects.

• Navigate the basics of coding with the Ruby language
• Use Ruby to create your own applications and games
• Offers tips for parents and teachers helping kids learn Ruby

So what are you waiting for? Ruby For Kids has everything you need to get in on one of the most popular topics around!

Screen-Smart Parenting: How to Find Balance and Benefit in Your Child's Use of Social Media, Apps, and Digital Devices. Jodi Gold, $20.95

As a practicing child psychiatrist and mother of three, Jodi Gold has a unique understanding of both the mind-boggling benefits and the serious downsides of technology. Dr. Gold weaves together scientific knowledge and everyday practical advice to help you foster your child's healthy relationship to technology, from birth to the teen years. You'll learn:

• How much screen time is too much at different ages.
• What your kids and teens are actually doing in all those hours online.
• How technology affects social, emotional, and cognitive development.
• Which apps and games build smarts and let creativity shine.
• How your own media habits influence your children.
• What you need to know about privacy concerns, cyberbullying, and other dangers.
• Ways to set limits that the whole family can live with.

Screen Time: How Electronic Media — from Baby Videos to Educational Software — Affects Your Young Child. Lisa Guernsey, $18.50

As a mother, Lisa Guernsey wondered about the influence of television on her two young daughters. As a reporter, she resolved to find out. What she first encountered was tired advice, sensationalized research claims, and a rather draconian mandate from the American Association of Pediatricians: no TV at all before the age of two. But, like many parents, she wanted straight answers and realistic advice, so she kept digging: she visited infant-perception labs and child development centers around the country. She interviewed scores of parents, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and media researchers, as well as programming executives at Noggin, Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and PBS. Much of what she found flies in the face of conventional wisdom and led her to conclude that new parents will be best served by focusing on "the three C's": content, context, and the individual child.

Taking Back Childhood: Helping Your Kids Thrive in a Fast-Paced, Media-Saturated, Violence-Filled World. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, $18.50

An innovative road map to help parents bring creative play, quality relationships, and a sense of confidence and personal safety back into their kids’ lives. Grounded in child development research, this is a practical, hands-on approach to creating a safe, open and imaginative environment in which children can flourish.

Talking Back to Facebook: the Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age. James Steyer, $17.00

This book offers an engaging blend of straightforward advice and anecdotes that addresses the major pitfalls relating to kids' use of media and technology: relationship issues, attention/ addiction problems, and the lack of privacy. Instead of shielding children completely from online images and messages, Steyer's practical approach gives parents essential tools to help filter content, preserve good relationships with their children, and make common sense, value-driven judgments for kids of all ages.

Not just about Facebook, this comprehensive, no-nonsense guide to the online world, media, and mobile devices belongs in the hands of all parents and educators raising kids in today's digital age. 

Teach Your Kids to Code: a Parent-Friendly Guide to Python Programming. Bryson Payne, $40.50

Teach Your Kids to Code is a parent's and teacher's guide to teaching kids basic programming and problem solving using Python, the powerful language used in college courses and by tech companies like Google and IBM.

Step-by-step explanations will have kids learning computational thinking right away, while visual and game-oriented examples hold their attention. Friendly introductions to fundamental programming concepts such as variables, loops, and functions will help even the youngest programmers build the skills they need to make their own cool games and applications. Whether you've been coding for years or have never programmed anything at all, Teach Your Kids to Code will help you show your young programmer how to:

• Explore geometry by drawing colorful shapes with Turtle graphics
• Write programs to encode and decode messages, play Rock-Paper-Scissors, and calculate how tall someone is in Ping-Pong balls
• Create fun, playable games like War, Yahtzee, and Pong
• Add interactivity, animation, and sound to their apps

Teach Your Kids to Code is the perfect companion to any introductory programming class or after-school meet-up, or simply your educational efforts at home. Spend some fun, productive afternoons at the computer with your kids — you can all learn something!

Teens Gone Wired: Are You Ready? Lyndsay Green, $19.95

TEENS GONE WIRED examines combines advice from dozens of parents and teens with a wealth of recommended sources, including links to many online support systems. Green emphasizes the critical role for parents in mediating their teens' experiences with both the digital and the real world. While the book is unflinching in acknowledging the trials that parents face today, it supports the author's optimism that parents are not only capable of doing a good job, they can have fun along the way.

Unplug Your Kids: a Parent’s Guide to Raising Happy, Active and Well-Adjusted Children in the Digital Age. David Dutwin, $17.95

Unplug Your Kids shows parents how to find the balance between technology and active lifestyles for their kids.

Unplugged — Ella Gets Her Family Back. Laura Pederen, illustrated by Penny Weber, $22.95

Ella is really frustrated! Lately it seems like the whole family has forgotten how to be together. Instead of playing Hangman or making waffles, everyone is talking on cell phones, playing video games or using the computer. What’s it going to take for Ella to get through to them?

Video Games & Your Kids: How Parents Stay in Control. Hilarie Cash & Kim McDaniel, $20.00

Based on research and the authors’ clinical experience, Video Games & Your Kids explains what gaming addiction is, how much gaming is too much, and the affects gaming has on the body and brain. The authors give gaming advice on each stage of life; ages 2-6, elementary school years, adolescence, and adult children still living at home. Where there is a problem, the authors provide parents with tools that will help the parents successfully set appropriate limits for their children. It also explains the need to consult with professionals and use the process of formal interventions when the addiction is so severe that the parents are no longer able to manage the situation.