Lisa's Reviews > How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

The fact that I found myself tearing up while reading about a young student getting reprimanded for chewing gum can be attributed to the excellent writing in this book. When I read nonfiction I usually like to take it in small doses while I simultaneously read a well spun story. This was not the case with this interesting and inspiring work. I could not put it down.

I feel passionate about education and this book sure had me thinking about the way we are teaching our kids from every socioeconomic background. In one section of the book a group of educators came up with a list of a set of strengths that were, "especially likely to predict life satisfaction and high achievement," they are:

grit
self-control (remember the marshmallow test?)
zest
social intelligence
gratitude
optimism
curiousity

A school in Chicago went so far as to give students a GPA as well as a character report. There is so much good stuff in this book, I think I might have to buy it!