How Teens Win by Jon Acuff and his children.
Audio Version
Information: B-
Helpfulness: C+
Audio: B
Best Aspect: May be very helpful to some teens and parents.
Worst Aspect: Most of the teens who will listen to this already have a natural predisposition to succeed.
Recommend: If it’s for you.

I've been following Jon Acuff's work for over a decade, reading every book he produces because they're always full of helpful information for working professionals, and he's funny. I'm also a father, and when Acuff started working with his daughters to communicate his message to teenagers, I got really excited. I would love for my children to avoid as many of the mistakes I've made in my life as they can. How Teens Win taps into some of the insights of Acuff's book All it Takes is a Goal, and what I love about the audiobook especially is that it is narrated by Acuff's daughters, who co-wrote the book. My kids and I listened to the audiobook on the way to school each day, and I loved that my kids could hear this information from teenagers like them. The content in How Teens Win focuses on getting teenagers to focus on discovering who they are and what motivates them. They do this through something called the "Best Moments List," and this is a great exercise for parents to share with their kids. It's looking into the past to discover your future. This is a great book, and I highly recommend the audiobook to hear the authors themselves. I can't wait to hear what they write next.

Great for teens and their parents!
I listened to this audiobook because I have two important pre-teen girls in my life hurtling towards high school at an alarming rate. What this book does is empower the reader to think about what makes them happy, what interests them, and then to use these clues (in the form of lists) to help figure out what could light them up as adults. In this way, the students stay true to the things that matter to them (not what everyone else is doing), and helps them choose a path that will give them an adulthood that “fits.”
Astoundingly, the book is mostly written and narrated by two teens (albeit the daughters of the best-selling author Jon Acuff). They speak to the pressures of being a teen and how this list-making and reflecting process has worked for them. They help translate and categorize things like “I love Taylor Swift concerts” into deeper insights about personality and needs.
While I had a pretty straightforward career trajectory, I can’t help but think I might have made different choices had I gone through the book’s exercises when I was 15.
I believe the things we put on our lists would change over the years, but the analysis would lead to similar conclusions. I think this is a very relatable and useful book for teens, and for parents to go through together with younger teens and even pre-teens. It’s on my list to buy for holiday gift-giving this year. Not only that, but I’ve already obtained a copy of Acuff’s book for adults on the same topic (and which was the basis of this version for teens).
My thanks to the authors, publisher, producer, and #NetGalley for access to the audiobook for review purposes.