Author Archive

Journalist Lewis sounds the alarm that teens aren’t getting enough sleep in this impassioned survey. Due in large part to early school start times, teens are sleep deprived, she writes, and it’s taking a toll on their health. Lewis explains how sleep works and details the shifts that happen during puberty and cause teens to need additional morning sleep to get sufficient rest. She details the history of school schedules, attributing earlier start times to school consolidation, busing issues, and budget cuts, and offers data showing dramatic improvements in attendance and mental health in Minnesota schools when schools started later. Parents stuck with an early bell, Lewis writes, can be ‘strategic’ with kids ‘about naps and caffeine’ and set limits for tech use at night, but the best way to deal with the problem, she argues, is to push schools to start later. To that end, she offers detailed and practical guidance, including tips for building community involvement, and responses to common objections by school districts (‘Sports are often not nearly as difficult to rearrange as people think they might be,’ for example). This convincing plea is well worth a look for parents and educators alike.“
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In her compelling and deeply researched book, Lisa L. Lewis shows why sleep matters to the physical, emotional, and social well-being of teenagers. She deftly reviews the science, then provides practical advice for putting those scientific insights into action. For parents and educators everywhere, this book is an urgent and timely read.”
—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive, The Power of Regret, and To Sell Is Human

“Lisa L. Lewis’s book should serve as a wake-up call to parents, lawmakers, school administrators, coaches, and teens everywhere. It’s nearly impossible to convince adolescents they need more sleep, but this book is full of persuasive facts even the most exhausted teen might heed. Don’t let your aspiring NBA players miss the chapter on sleep as a competitive advantage! The Sleep-Deprived Teen is a bright and easy read with profound implications for the health and development of teens.”
—Michelle Icard, author of Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen

“The Sleep-Deprived Teen is a must-read for anyone caring for tweens and teens. It explains in a clear and accessible way how kids’ sleep patterns change during puberty and why good-quality sleep is so critical to the physical and emotional well-being of our adolescents.”
—Vanessa Kroll Bennett, cohost of The Puberty Podcast

“The Sleep-Deprived Teen provides a conversationally paced review of the scientific background behind teen sleep challenges and outlines a roadmap for healthier and better-slept teens through community and school advocacy. Investing in today’s teens, who are tomorrow’s leaders, truly does start with a good night’s sleep!”
—Maida Lynn Chen, MD, director of the Sleep Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine

“Filled with outstanding research and reporting, The Sleep-Deprived Teen should convince every parent and educator of teens to make healthy sleep a priority. Lisa L. Lewis covers the latest research on sleep-deprivation and compels readers to consider practical changes around school start times, sports practices, media use, caffeine, driving habits and more, all with a goal of improving teen health and engagement with learning. Read it with your teen today!”
—Denise Pope, PhD, cofounder of Challenge Success and senior lecturer at Stanford University Graduate School of Education

“While we often view waking sleepy teens for pre-dawn school as a joke at best or annoyance at worst, The Sleep-Deprived Teen shows why this practice undermines the health and well-being of children, families, and entire communities. Whether you live with, work with, or even know any teenagers, this engaging, illuminating book will awaken you to this ‘sleeper’ of an issue and show you how we as a society can address it.”
—Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, executive director and cofounder of Start School Later

Lisa L. Lewis, MS, is a freelance journalist who covers the intersection of parenting, public health, and education. She played a key role in California’s new healthy school start times law, the first of its kind in the nation. Lewis is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, TIME, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and Your Teen, among others. She’s a parent to two teens, who inspire much of what she writes about—everything from concussions and heat stroke to school lockdowns to teenage sleep.

Rafael Pelayo, MD, FAASM, is a clinical professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in the division of sleep medicine. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area,