Brain Hacks – Strategies to Rally Motivation and Get Things Done (Even When You Don’t Want To)

Brain Hacks is a vibrant, 132-page graphic novel that follows five teens as they navigate the pressures and demands of their daily activities with help from their Crew—the four brain-based guides who bring the power of metacognition to life. Designed with a lay-flat spine for easy reading, this book blends engaging storytelling with research-based brain science to show how thoughts and feelings shape one another and how positive and negative thinking impacts our actions. Readers get an inside look at how stress can be managed and motivation can flourish when students have strategies to help them thrive.

Meet the CREW: FITI, who helps students notice their thoughts and feelings; POP, who highlights the power of both positive and negative reactions; Gadget Guy, who offers smart strategies and flexible thinking; and R2i, who teaches how remembering and imagining can unlock the right action in the moment. Together, they make understanding a student’s brain feel fun, practical, and empowering.

As Meera, Marcel, Oliver, Remi, and Zara try to juggle academics, friendships, and activities, the CREW shows up with timely, brain-based hacks and a Feelings Scale to help them stay focused, confident, and resilient. Perfect for tweens, teens, educators, and families, Brain Hacks delivers relatable storytelling, mental wellness tools, and a science-backed guide to help students better understand their mind—one illustrated adventure at a time.

The final pages in the book include 3 “thinksheets,” from the forthcoming book, Thinksheets for Brain Hacks: Strategies to Inspire and Build Motivation. (Click here to download them and sign up to be notified when this is available). This companion book will provide a deeper level of reflection for lessons taught in each chapter of the graphic novel, along with thinksheets (worksheets) for students to complete as they consider how the concepts explored within Brain Hacks relate to their lives as well. Available Spring 2026!

Suitable for ages 11 – 18