Little Soldiers

July 24, 2017
An American journalist living in Shanghai, Chu enrolls her toddler son in a local school and comes face-to-face with the methods used to achieve the famed excellence of Chinese students: strict discipline including coercion and threats, relentless study, high parental involvement, and a classroom structure that operates on military precision, extras and gifts, Chinese Communist indoctrination, and high-stakes pressure. Concerned about the system to which she has committed her son, Chu begins a personal investigation and confronts, in discussions with Chinese teachers, students, and parents, and with foreigners, the central paradoxes facing China’s traditional culture and booming economy. Attempts by the school’s administrator at integrating a kinder, gentler Western approach to education collide with the Chinese emphasis on test taking and competitiveness, just as the Communist ideal of collectivity confronts the market impulses driving a still-developing country. The lively anecdotes, scenes, and conversations that Chu relates while describing her encounters with the Chinese education system will amuse or appall Western readers, and she outlines a system that, despite its high ideals, creates broad gaps in income and achievement. By the end, the successes of Chu’s son, who demonstrates mathematical ability and self-discipline along with buoyancy, curiosity, and leadership skills, persuade her that, going forward, the global ideal is a blend of Chinese rigor and Western individuality, whatever that might look like.

Starred review from September 1, 2017

As the American education system is constantly being pitted against the standards of other countries, the impact of culture on student performance is often left undiscussed. Journalist Chu bridges this gap by offering an in-depth look at primary school in China, where her three-year-old son spent two years in attendance. The text is an insightful combination of personal narrative peppered with journalistic analysis and observation. This perspective, conveyed through Chu's own multicultural background, offers commentary on the good, including behavioral outcomes and robust curriculum, and the bad, delving into the military-like discipline, high-stakes testing, and incidences of cheating. The stories are often infused with humor as the author outlines Chinese culture and its influence on her, parenting mishaps, and cultural misunderstanding. Additionally, Chu's narrative is told with the honesty of a journalist, allowing readers to understand the conclusions she draws from her journey but also to form their own view of Chinese education. VERDICT For anyone who wishes to expand their understanding about Chinese society and its impact on education. [See Prepub Alert, 4/3/17; "Editors' Fall Picks," p. 31.]--Rachel Wadham, Brigham Young Univ. Libs., Provo, UT

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017
A comparison of American and Chinese education systems based on the author's observations of her young son.When journalist Chu, an American mother of Chinese descent, moved to China with her husband and young toddler, Rainer, the couple decided to enroll him in an elite, state-run Chinese public school. Observing that Chinese children were well-behaved and students of all ages were outperforming American students on a variety of topics, the author was also pleased that Rainer would learn Mandarin at an early age. In a few short weeks, Rainer's boisterous nature calmed, he made new friends, and he began learning Chinese. However, he let slip little details of the methods used by his teachers to instill obedience and conformity that made Chu wonder if she and her husband made the right decision. Rainer told his parents that he was force-fed food he disliked, had to sit perfectly still, didn't always get enough water, and was only allowed to use the bathroom at prescribed times. Consequently, Chu set out on an investigation that brought her face to face with vastly different cultural and educational belief systems than what she had experienced in the U.S. as a child. Through this combination of personal stories and investigative reporting, Chu opens a window on to the complex world of communist China and its competitive methodology, which helps raise highly efficient, obedient, intelligent children but also squelches individualism and spontaneous creativity from the beginning. It's a sometimes-chilling portrait of how hundreds of millions of children are being taught to obey as well as an interesting glimpse into the mindset of one couple who let their child stay in the system despite their misgivings. An informative, personal view of the Chinese and their educational system that will have many American readers cringing at the techniques used by the Chinese to create perfect students.

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August 1, 2017
Chinese-American journalist Chu combines her son Rainey's experiences in a Shanghai kindergarten and a broader comparison of Chinese and Western education systems. Sent abroad for work, she meets with education experts, observes a variety of school settings, and talks with students to illuminate the factors contributing to the phenomenally high rankings achieved by Shanghai teenagers in international academic tests. China's school system is reputed to be a pressure cooker, demanding conformity and submission to teachers' wills as parents are encouraged to drill their toddlers, hire tutors, and stay deeply engaged. The goal is to build academic superstars who can compete for relatively few spots in elite public high schools and universities and eventually land government jobs. Those who fall off the education track, as nearly half of rural children do, are doomed to vocational training or dropping out entirely. This engaging narrative is personalized by Chu's often humorous recollections of attending American schools as the daughter of immigrants. Little Soldiers offers fascinating peeks inside the world's largest educational system and at the future intellectual soldiers American kids will be facing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)