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Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers--and How You Can Too (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jane Y. Kim (Author) "The most important thing parents can give to their children is love-but a desire and love for learning and education comes in as a close..." (more)
Key Phrases: math portion, North Carolina, Jin Soo, United States (more...)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stressing involvement, encouragement, discipline and more involvement, the authors reveal the 17 "secrets" Asian families use to create straight-A-earning, Ivy League-bound children, though some readers may balk at the generalities the book treats as facts. (The opening sentence reads: "Have you ever sat next to an Asian student in class and wondered how she managed to consistently get straight A's while you struggled to maintain a B-minus average?") That said, much of the advice isn't, contrary to the book's title and tone, culture-specific and is just as likely to be overheard at parent-teacher conferences in Dubuque as read about in this book: be enthusiastic when your child asks for help, set goals and reward positive performance. The book employs a we vs. you tact, and many readers will find the implied superiority off-putting or snide. Readers willing to separate the substance from the hollow pomp will find helpful tidbits (extracurricular activities are good, but in moderation) mixed with mercenary exhortations ("Forget the 'Do Whatever Makes You Happy' Mentality"), but wading through the stereotypes might be too much to ask.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Review

A fond book explains the Asian work ethic. -- The New York Times

A helpful book for any parent interested in running a tighter ship and raising more academic, goal-oriented and successful children. -- Kirkus Reviews

An amazingly interesting book. -- Diane Sawyer, Good Morning America

Clearly, their message is something that America is primed to hear... -- Philadelphia Daily News

The main idea their parents instilled was that of mastering, not just doing, their schoolwork. -- The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Berkley Trade (November 1, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0425205614
  • ISBN-13: 978-0425205617
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #521,877 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Soo Kim Abboud
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
The most important thing parents can give to their children is love-but a desire and love for learning and education comes in as a close second. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
math portion
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
North Carolina, Jin Soo, United States, Johns Hopkins, Chapel Hill, Duke University, Sensei Yamamoto, Pizza Hut, Career Day, Hello Kitty, Heart Block, Jane Eyre, New York City, Reverend Suh, Seoul University, South Korea
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Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers--and How You Can Too
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Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers--and How You Can Too 3.4 out of 5 stars (33)
Parents Do Make a Difference: How to Raise Kids with Solid Character, Strong Minds, and Caring Hearts (The Jossey-Bass Psychology Series)
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33 Reviews
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3.4 out of 5 stars (33 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Sound advice, but these sisters need a little more enlightment, February 25, 2006
I find it ironic that these sisters who claim to have gotten such a great education write this book on the basis of such scant anecdotal evidence -- their childhoods. Social science scholars, they are not and it shows. They failed to do even the minimal of research on real Asian parenting, which typically includes corporal punishment of the variety that Americans would probably deem to be child abuse. I'm not sure how they can generalize and say that their experience represents Asian parenting. As a Korean-American born in Korea and raised in the US, I can testify that this was not even close to my own experience. I would say that these women were truly blessed and privileged to have had parents who loved one another and sought to invest the time and energy to raise them with the level of attention they received. If you are a parent who can do this, then the advice is excellent and makes sense. But this book is not about Asian parenting. The book is an homage to their parents, who are probably in parental bliss right now, for having done a good job. One of the highest Confucian virtues is to exalt and pay respect towards one's parents. This book is an act of filial piety. I do not know of many Korean American families like this.

Many first and second generation Korean-Americans experience or have experienced mental health issues: chronically low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, feelings of inadequacy (even when they have done reasonably well professionally) and depression as a result of their upbringing. Yes, some have PhDs and are in positions of financial stability, but they may also be on Prozac. The suicide rates at Columbia, Cornell and NYU are disproportionately high among Asian Americans. As many as 90% of Korean Americans experience an emotional crisis during college because they feel that they have not lived up to their parents' expectations, according to a senior counselor at a major NY state university. It's very tragic.

Aside from this book's shortcoming, I would say that it is a very pragmatic how-to manual on churning out little Confucian capitalists. I think they offer sound advice, but I think the authors take it for granted that the parents reading the book are not divorced, which is the case for many american families, and that all teachers are worthy of respect. I get the feeling that these authors led very sheltered lives, and have not interacted with a broad range of people to have come to their conclusions. If you are not politically left and have children who don't have learning disabilities, artistic temperaments or other contextual variables which may prevent you from applying these "secrets," then go ahead read this book.

As a Korean-American artist who was discouraged from pursuing a career in something I was talented in, I see many of the Korean conventional wisdom as not very wise. Many Korean parents will push their kids towards lucrative, high status professions. I'm so glad that I didn't listen to my parents. As an adult, I see that a lot of their admonishments had more to do with their insecurity as immigrants from what was then, a poor country, than their ability to assess what was in my own best interests. Their definitions of success had much more to do with status than actual contributions to society. If you really think that an ivy league education is all that it takes to be successful, look no further than the corporate executives who were indicted in the Enron scandal. An good, formal education does not a good person make.
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36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Narrow focus on how their parents from Korea raised the two of them, December 13, 2005
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Book should be named "How our South Korean parents raised the two of us" without reference to anything broader than that. Not Korean-American parents, not Asian-American parents, not Asian parents. Just two parents and two kids recalling their upbringing.

This book contains many excellent anecdotes about how the Kim sisters were raised by their parents. They discuss how their parents, immigrants from South Korea, instilled in them excellent learning habits and a thirst for knowledge. The book is worth reading for that alone.

But if the book claims in its title to explain "how asian parents raise high achievers" readers need larger quantitative data. Do first gen Asian-Americans get higher grades in school than the general population? When surveyed or observed by sociologists, do Korean parents who have immigrated to the US teach a different value system to their children that translates into higher achievement? Do Korean-Americans make up a greater percent of small business owners, doctors, lawyers and bankes than their percent of the population? Do first gen Korean-Americans earn more than the general population? Is this any different from immigrants to the US in general? What about children of immigrants from other Asian countries like China, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam?

This book provides just anecdotes from the childhoods of these two children of immigrants from Korea. It is useful. But the title claims a much broader scope than is covered.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opening book, January 5, 2006
By Latonya J. (Alabama) - See all my reviews
As an African-American parent, I've been looking for a book like this for some time. Both my daughters attend a school where many Asian children are enrolled, and my husband and I have often wondered why they do so well. After reading the book, I became aware of many of the things I SHOULDN'T be doing: I complained about my job, I was too tired to help with homework, I'd direct my children to watch a movie when they were bored, etc. The list goes on and on. The book has forced me to mend my ways.

This book was a great find. I bought copies for my daughters' teachers and a fellow church members as gifts. All have told me that it has inspired them to become more involved in their children's education. I highly recommend it for any parent who wants to help their child succeed in school.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Had some good ideas
I will say that after reading most of the reviews, I decided to give this book a try.One of the things I really liked about this book was that the childrens education was a family... Read more
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1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written
I would co-sign all of the negative remarks about this book 100...wait...200%! Rather than reiterating what others have said, I will just say that I found it very confusing the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by A Work In Progress

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy this book and don't take their advice.
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1.0 out of 5 stars A Misguided Book
Let me present my credentials to review this book. I was born in Korea, and moved to the U.S. with my parents when I was three. I learned to speak English at five. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Evergreen

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!
I thought this book was SO helpful, and very inspiring. I read it, and am having my 14 year-old daughter read it, because sometimes she will listen to others when she won't... Read more
Published 22 months ago by S. Billonwolfe

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad...
When I first picked up this book in the store I was heavily skeptical about it. (And yes, it *is* full of overbroad generalizations about America, Asian-Americans, education and... Read more
Published on September 20, 2007 by Jennifer Godwin

2.0 out of 5 stars It is a ok book
First, I think some points of the book are laudable. Study has to be a journey with both perseverance and fun. Nobody can go very far without either one. Read more
Published on July 18, 2007 by Violet Moon

4.0 out of 5 stars TOP OF THE CLASS
This is a terrific book if for no other reason it has started parents talking about how they are rearing their children. Read more
Published on July 9, 2007 by Sammy Bright

5.0 out of 5 stars We Tried It ... and It Worked!
As an American temporarily living in Tokyo, I have been very impressed with the high achievements and standards set by the Japanese children around me. Read more
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2.0 out of 5 stars Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers
I thought it was very poorly written. The authors claimed that one of the reasons that American children are not as successful in school as Asian children is because they are... Read more
Published on May 14, 2007 by A. Dunham

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