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Comments (42)

Community comments are the opinions of contributing users. These comments do not represent the opinions of Jefferson County Public Library.
What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 42 items
Mar 22, 2024Kylie777 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book provides an interesting perspective about a mother raising 2 daughters who are music prodigies and math geniuses. I can’t imagine growing up in such a strict household. The two daughters named Sophia and Louisa were never allowed…
Jan 10, 2023mebacher rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A quick--sometimes horrifying--read. I picked it up to better understand the upbringing of a young person I recently met. Having raised two children of my own, I was often very disturbed by the treatment the author (and her husband, by his…
Oct 06, 2021Lowell_R rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
A breezy read that follows the riveting accomplishments of Sophia and Lulu spurred along by their mother's self-described Chinese parenting methods. The methods are often extreme and lead to explosive conflict with Lulu (and at times…
Apr 16, 2020kimdaang rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Easy to read book. A crazy Chinese mom who wants their kids to be better than #1. The mom needs to read a parenting book to properly raise her children. Forcing them to work hard 24/7 is definitely not the right way.
Aug 05, 2019bell5133 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Honest, funny, and entertaining. I’m half Chinese, but my Chinese mom is nothing like Amy Chua. It was my white dad who pressured me to do well in school and play a musical instrument, not my Chinese mom. Mostly I was raised in a very…
Jul 06, 2015CL_BookClub rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Our book club had very strong feelings about the parenting stradegies described in this book. A great discussion emerged, as some things that occur in the book were shocking for some members to read. A great book to intigrate with a book…
Mar 13, 2015StarGladiator rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
Should be entitled, the Manhattan Institute Book of Child Rearing [which probably sounds a bit better than Satan's Spawn ?] - - but should you really wish to read books on superlative childhood education, one would heartily recommend,…
Jan 02, 2015normf3 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I rather enjoyed this book. It makes one think about his or her own parenting methods. Clearly, Chua takes it to an unhealthy extreme. But she makes good points in questioning if things like the kids self esteem movement is harmful. I…
Sep 09, 2014eliseweatherby rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
I mistakenly thought this was a parenting book its not, I initially picked it up because so many modern parenting books have quoted “tiger mom” in a negative way I was intrigued. We are an international student host family so I did enjoy…
May 22, 2014
I read this book because I thought my Western parents were perhaps a bit too lax about my schooling. I was curious to find out about an alternative way, perhaps for raising my own children. What I found from this book is that Tiger…
andreas1111
Apr 09, 2014andreas1111 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
First of all saying that this book is about "Chinese parenting" is misleading. This is at most a book about upper middle class Chinese American parenting. The book will annoy many people, but it is also pretty funny in places and oddly…
nuttybrown
Sep 05, 2013nuttybrown rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
It was a fast read. I don't know if I could live in a household with such a strong and driven person. Another thing that bothered me was that her husband let her get away with so much bullying. She believed that she loved her girls and…
Apr 12, 2013weirdduck88 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
It's too bad people don't see this book for what it's worth but get caught up in disagreeing with because of their own beliefs. Chua's writing is accessible, clear, nostalgic, very honest, and humourous. Although there were times where I…
Mar 18, 2013andrea_gregus rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Loved this book. Easy to ready. Interesting to hear about this mother raising her kids.
Dec 26, 2012
When I suggest this book to others, the response I get back 99% of the time is something along the lines of "oh I'm not reading that, that women is a neurotic child abuser". But that's not what Chua's story is really about, it's not a…
Aug 03, 2012richardhe rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I was surprisingly entertained. I don't care about children or parenting but Chua tells the story of her family very captivatingly. The book is well-written except the ending. Felt as if Chua was tired of writing this and wanted to get it…
Jun 23, 2012bobgrant rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
This book has precious little to do with the narrator being a mother. This is a woman who cannot control herself so controls others. She spends a lot of time railing at her daughters about x or y, yelling and screaming and generally making…
Jun 14, 2012pplarel rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This book went so fast - I could not put it down. It was very engrossing, very funny. There were many moments when I connected with how the children must feel and how Amy felt.
May 12, 2012loonylovesgood rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Interesting to hear this perspective on raising children. It is certainly not the way I will raise mine, but I appreciated her honest and candid view on things. Also, the first full-length book I read as an ebook!
mtri
Apr 20, 2012mtri rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Sometimes an author allows you to be the 'fly on the wall' and Amy Chua has done just that. Yes, at times this book is uncomfortable, but the author isn't writing a 'how to', there are areas where I agree with the strict parenting and…
Mar 14, 2012
I am speechless when I read the comments above me. The title of the book is "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother", which is a satirical reference to Chua's parenting style. Chua also said that her book is a satirical memoir - a piece of…
Feb 29, 2012jbeckber rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I found this book so incredibly uncomfortable to read, perhaps because I am a Western parent, concerned about the self-esteem and well-being of my child! I think it is a worthwhile read none the less, if just to test your own ideas about…
Feb 17, 2012ELIZABETH HUNTER rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
To be honest-the only reason I finished this book was because I became incredibly concerned about the daughters well being. The mother was so tough and uncaring that when she started having trouble with her younger daughter I needed to…
Jan 27, 2012dlh1 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
It's nice to finally hear the truth about what it's like to live in some Asian families. Some of my Asian classmates from high school were never allowed to do anything with me after school, and I guess I now know why. It's also nice to…
adoranti
Jan 12, 2012adoranti rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This book kind of made me want to poke myself in the eye with an ice pick. I am not a lazy parent but this book made me feel like a total hack. She pushes her daughters to an extreme that in the end drives the second child to total…