I wanted to love this book. I loved the premise - Specer-Hwang interviewed lots of 100-plus year-old adults to discover the secret of raising resilient kids. I would have loved to have heard more from the interviews. I found the basis and principles to be good, but the way they were fleshed out didn't hold my attention the way I had hoped. Instead, I walked away feeling overwhelmed and needing a break from reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an early reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Based on her research of centenarians and their habits, her eight principles have overlapping benefits to overall health. Rhonda has great everyday, practical suggestions on how to reduce stress, promote well-being, and thrive despite life's trials. Guardians and families can apply these principals by making simple changes their family routines. As a mother and professor, the author knows first hand how difficult it can be to make changes. Her suggestions are realistic and very doable. Her encouraging tone and connection with the reader feel like you're getting advice from a trusted friend. I highly recommend this book.

Spencer-Hwang interviewed many people over the age of 100 and condensed their lives and advice into eight principles for raising a family. While there is an opening overview of a specific centenarian interview to personalize each concept, she skims over the history they live and the drastic lifestyle changes we now inhabit just saying they're different times, rather than focusing on the more important concept that the lifestyle we lead now is lightyears from the thousands of human years that came before us and maybe, just maybe, we aren't *meant* to stare at screens indoors all day! She's so determined not to pass judgement that she winds up saying almost nothing.

It's broken up into chapters designed to be actively implemented over a number of weeks. Each chapter has homework: goals, action steps, additional goals, and instructions for keeping track. As an academic obviously the author doesn't find "homework" a problematic term but it seems a bit out of place in a book written for adults. Many of the chapters' content blends into each other, and while some of this is purposeful as she wants them to build on each other, a lot of times it just feels like it wasn't edited well.

The tone of the book is quite harried and seems a little desperate. I think this may be because the author is an epidemiologist writing during/after a global pandemic (understandable!), but the book is fairly stressful to read; not relaxing, edifying, or her favorite term "balanced". She gives practical examples of how to get children excited about these concepts but it comes across as very forced and externally motivated. She also obviously loves to track and check things off, giving tracking instructions for each category and providing a survey and a "scorecard" in the appendices. Some suggestions show not only her overcomplication of the implementation but supreme financial privilege--get you and each child a FitBit, go completely plant-based, plan an international volunteer trip!

There are some good ideas here, but none of them will surprise you. Get outdoors, get active, eat whole foods, rest, invest in relationships/community, join a faith community at a place of worship (apparently even/especially if you don't want to?!), be mindfully grateful for what you have.

In Raising Resilient Kids, Rhonda Spencer-Hwang sets out to discover how parents can raise kids for greater resilience in life, As a professor, researcher, and epidemiologist, Spencer-Hwang decided to spend time in the Blue Zone, a community known for having a high concentration of centenarians, individuals around 100 years old. What is their secret to longevity? And how can that help future generations find resilience: physically, emotionally, and spiritually? The result of that research is this 8 principle challenge for families to reduce stress, find healthy balance, instill values, and more.

This books wasn't quite what I expected. I thought the author would go more into a growth mindset. Instead she focused on a variety of topics to develop a resilient mind, body, AND spirit. Most of the principles in this book are well known, such as the value of sleep or the need for children to contribute to the family good. However, seeing the science behind the principles clearly laid out was a nice bonus. I also especially enjoyed the application part of each chapter where Spencer-Hwang gave some practical application examples from her own parenting journey. For the most part, this book was pretty common sense. However, for a parent of elementary aged kid, this would make a good read. For those of us who have been parenting for awhile, this one is a pass.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This book wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was okay, but not what I was looking for. I wish it had more hands on application ideas.

This was an informative book. What I liked most was that the author actually explains, in detail, how to put into practice her suggestions with your own family. So many books offer advice, but don’t help in the execution, but this one does. Overall a good read and I will definitely suggest to other parents in our homeschool coop. There is a section on religion, so be aware. It is just a small section and easily skipped if this subject matter bothers you, but just a heads up.

Every parent in the world is worried about the resilience for their kids right now. This was a timely read full of actionable advice for parents. Recommended.

This was well written but somewhat disorganized. I appreciate the deep dive into the research around resilience and parenting strategies but wish there was more in terms of application of that research.

I was pleasantly surprised by just how well this book was written. Not only were Spencer-Hwang's ideas articulated well and woven together with real-life application, but she made an effort to include engaging questions and put accountability back on the reader to take away important lessons. Each chapter builds on the last to create an all-around holistic understanding of the topic. She answers the simple who, what, when, where with relative ease and finds ways to answer the how and why with data-backed science and thoughtful suggestions to encourage creativity.

The topic of resilience has come to the forefront of our culture thanks to the pandemic and age of uncertainty we are adjusting to. Kids are no exception. They feel it too. This book covers the topic as it relates to families, parents, and children in a way that makes it accessible to all.

Topics covered that I was impressed by:
ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and their connection to health conditions
Developing habits of outdoor activity
Simplifying the diet
Prioritizing rest
Fostering meaningful relationships
Develop spirituality
Importance of self-talk
Service in the community

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am always looking to learn more about raising children being a month you want your children to be able to be resilient and happy.

While I enjoyed most parts of this book I did find this wasn't for me. Wonderfully written and executed.

Having read many books on a similar vein, I was pleasantly surprised. As a mother of a particularly anxious and picky eater, I’m happy to report that some of the tools in this book have really helped us try new ways to approach what is a challenging situation. Every parent wants their kids to be able to face the big wide world with a confidence and zest for life that sets them up to succeed. Read this to give them a great head start.

I though the introduction to the book was a little too long. The author spent too long focusing on her city, what made it special and its citizens. I get that it made sense because she revisited that theme throughout the book, but at least for me having that much of that was not useful or interesting.
I liked that this book’s strategy had a time frame, because it made the overall goal seem more attainable. I also really liked how the author not only told us what to do but also how to do it in easy clear steps; how she used objects and tactics that are current and easily accessible as tools to help us along our journey and how she always kept in mind that modern life is hectic and difficult to deal with. One of the tools I found valuable was the quiz at the end to help you determine how resilient your family actually was.
One downside, it placed religion as one of the important principles, so if you have a secular approach to life this may rub you the wrong way. Feel free to simply skip that chapter and I'm sure you'll still find value in this book. Overall, I found it helpful and interesting.

Before I can even consider the content I have to nit-pick about the format of the chapters. It's a bit confusing... There are two parts, but part two is divided not only chapters but into weeks. Why not just ditch the double labelling and remove the chapters from part two? Then there are five separate appendixes, which just seems like a lot.

Part One: Get Ready... Get Set
Chapters:
1: A Mom in Hiding - this tells me the book is geared to moms, rather than both parents, why does it all fall on Mom?
2: A Resiliency Capital: Uncovering their Secrets

Part Two: Go!
Chapters:
3: Week 1: Digging Goats and Gardens
4: Week 2: Creating Balanced Kids
5: Week 3: Raring to Go
6: Week 4: Cultivate Life-Giving Relationships
7: Week 5: Following Your Spiritual GPS
8: Week 6: Embracing a Mountain-Moving Mindset
9: Week 7: Becoming the Solution
10: Week 8: Building a Legacy of Health (and Happiness!)

Questions for Discussion Groups
Appendixes with Resiliency Program Assessment Survey, Evaluation, Maintenance Scorecard, Recipes
Dinner Conversation Kick-Starter Questions

The chapters include a quote, the body, "Homework Time" - questions to consider, and endnotes. Each chapter is so jam-packed I'm exhausted just thinking about reading the whole book.