“Educators and caregivers alike will find plenty of ways to help young people thrive.”—Publishers Weekly

“This is an important book. It makes a valuable contribution to the literature on teaching and learning, tackling an urgent mental health crisis and how we can build the learning environments that will help students overcome that crisis and thrive. As a bonus, readers will find Cavanagh’s writing witty and imaginative, giving us insights that can transform college experiences.”—Ken Bain, president of the Best Teachers Institute and author of What the Best College Teachers Do

“Most current rhetoric about teaching and learning tends to frame challenging students and acting with compassion as mutually exclusive enterprises. But, as Sarah Rose Cavanagh reminds us in this beautifully written defense of humane teaching, that dichotomy has always been a false choice. Challenge without compassion is simply hazing, but compassion without challenge atrophies the vast potential and possibilities in our students. Neither is sufficient for our moment, Cavanagh shows us. Rather, ‘compassionate challenge’ is the best way to do this work while still honoring and preserving our humanity. The crises we face are monstrous problems indeed. Mind over Monsters neither evades nor surrenders to this bleak reality but gives us the tools to create learning spaces offering both sanctuary and liberation. It is an essential book.”—Kevin Gannon, author of Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto