Hello Americans - Here is a link to Amazon.com taking you to this very smart book https://amzn.to/3GvEMo8 Hello Canadians - Here is the link to Amazon.ca taking you to this very smart book https://amzn.to/3Xdfx0u Just select the Amazon that delivers to your region, follow the link and shop for books or anything. You won't pay a penny more, the author won't earn a penny less and I will earn a few pennies to buy more books to review! Thank you!
Superpower? The Wearable Tech Revolution by Elaine Kachala Illustrated by Belle Wuthrich is equally about wearable technologies -- that is technologies that can enhance human capability, physically or mentally – and about the ethical and privacy challenges that come with technologies that can change us, our lives and our brains.
This is not an easy balance, it requires knowledge of current and upcoming technologies, excitement about their possibilities for humans of all different abilities AND it requires the ability to analyze the risks of harm to humans, privacy and confidentiality.
And somehow, it all has to be written in clear and understandable language with plenty of examples to stretch one’s imagination for the good and bad that can be accomplished.
This book is gob-smackingly good! It is one of the most intelligently thought out and written books I have read in the past couple of years. AND it is written so middle school students and teens can read it, understand the possibilities and the risks. Even parents and grandparents, such as myself, who might find new technologies incomprehensible, will find this book clear, exciting and sensible.
Since wearable technologies are being developed now, sometimes by teens, and since teens will most likely be the beneficiaries of these technologies – or cursed with these technologies, this is a very important book to read now.
Using many examples of both good and bad from the world’s developers, Canadian Elaine Kachala makes the point that engineers, designers, governments and users must be involved in assessing, managing and curbing potential harmful effects, while still allowing beneficial effects to come to fruition. And the book is so well illustrated with drawings, photos and cartoons by Belle Wutherich. The illustration stye and content are so helpful in putting a human face on these technologies and to understand the potential uses of wearable technologies.
If you and your kids read one non-fiction book this year, this should be it. Then discuss it. This topic really merits family discussion. It was published by Orca Books. You can find it at booksellers and on the Amazon links I have placed in the comments above. If you are learning about this important book from my book review, please subscribe to my youtube channel and hit the notification bell so you can be the first to learn about more Great Books for Kids.Reviewed by Michelle Marcotte