How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results

Wojcicki (coauthor of Moonshots in Education) reveals, in this accessible, entertaining book, what she’s learned about raising high-achieving kids over decades of teaching journalism at Palo Alto High School. Based on ample exposure to families defined by high achievement, stress, and helicopter parenting (and also her own experiences as a mother), Wojcicki believes that if there’s a secret to raising self-motivated, empowered kids, it’s embodied in the following values: trust, respect, independence, collaboration, and kindness. Striking a conversational but thoughtful tone, she urges parents to reflect on their own childhoods in order to realize that “sometimes a child has a different dream, a different path to follow” than their parents. Wojcicki dismisses Amy Chua’s micromanaging “Tiger Mom” method in favor of freedom within limits, and even accepting that “when kids start to take control, a little chaos ensues.” Learning through failure, she believes, is part of developing a sense of “mastery.” Just as strongly, she calls on parents to model kindness in their own lives, since, from infancy onward, children are “adults in training,” closely observing their parents for behavioral cues. Wojcicki’s values are hard to argue against, and she makes a strong case for them in her highly readable, idea-packed work. Agent: Doug Abrams, Idea Architects. (Aug.)