I learned about this book from Slate.com's list of favorite books of 2012. It makes the case that a child's success –– in school and in life –– depends more on non-cognitive traits like perseverance than on IQ or their standardized test scores. The subtitle refers to this as "the hidden power of character."
I went in expecting a discussion of educational reform, but the first chapter "How to Fail (and How Not to)" talks more about recent developments in pediatric neuroendocrinology, the second, "How to Build Character," about motivational psychology, and the third, "How to Think," about chess. These subjects make the author's argument more expansive, but also dilute its focus.
I basically agree with the author's points about the importance of character. However, his arguments made me a little nervous, especially in the early sections. He is making very traditional points about the influence of a child's relationship with his or her mother and about the value of hard work. They are not new ideas, and in fact they're the cornerstone of the conservative view that says disadvantaged people are responsible for their own predicament. The new idea is that character is malleable and teachable, that we can implement practices to improve it. I felt that the author argued more forcefully about the impact of character than about its improvability.
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