Available today, Paul Tough’s provocative and profoundly hopeful new book, HOW CHILDREN SUCCEED, will reverse decades of thinking, solving the mysteries of why some children succeed and others fail.

What if, for decades, we’ve emphasized the wrong skills and used the wrong strategies to move children toward success in school and in life? Sure, intelligence matters, Paul Tough writes, but it is just one part of the success equation.  

Tough introduces readers to the psychologists, neuroscientists, and economists who are solving the mysteries of character, exploring traits like perseverance, optimism, grit, curiosity, and conscientiousness.  How do these traits develop? And why are they such powerful predictors of success?

Through the engrossing, inspiring stories of children seemingly on the brink of failure, Tough investigates questions at the heart of the success equation: How do you turn a D student into a national chess champion? How are affluent parents preventing their children from developing grit? What simple message helps girls improve their math scores by 10 percentage points? Why does the United States produce more college dropouts than any other country and what can we do about it?

This rich and provocative dispatch will not only vitally engage readers, it will change our understanding of childhood itself.

Read an excerpt here.

See Paul’s tour schedule here.

Listen to Paul on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

Like Paul on Facebook and follow him on Twitter for updates.  

On the same day that we published Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer, Senator Scott Brown introduced the STOCK Act to stop insider trading in Congress. This was in the wake of the 60 Minutes story that aired on Sunday that was based on the research Schweizer did for Throw Them All Out. It’s amazing to see the effect a book and an author can have. 

This Newsweek piece gives you a bit of an idea just how much is revealed in the book, but check out the book itself and you’ll be astonished at the number of congresspeople involved (Schweizer was not afraid to name names!) and the extent of the corruption. 

For more info, visit the web site for Throw Them All Out.

New in paperback, the thrilling story by Gal Beckerman, When They Come for Us We’ll Be Gone.

At the end of World War II, nearly three million Jews were trapped inside the Soviet Union. They lived a paradox—unwanted by a repressive Stalinist state, yet forbidden to leave. When They Come for Us, We’ll Be Gone is the astonishing and inspiring story of their rescue. Drawing on newly released Soviet government documents, as well as hundreds of oral interviews, Gal Beckerman shows not only how the movement led to a mass exodus in 1989, but also how it gave the American Jewish community a renewed sense of spiritual purpose and taught it to flex its political muscle. In cinematic detail, this multi-generational saga, filled with suspense and packed with revelations, provides an essential missing piece of Cold War and Jewish history.

“Gal Beckerman’s book shines a long-needed spotlight on one of the great human rights struggles of the past century. It is dramatic, revelatory and deeply inspiring.”
—Ron Rosenbaum, author of Explaining Hitler and The Shakespeare Wars

This week’s Win-a-Book pick is the ultimate guide to music fandom, especially for ladies who let top 40s radio govern their listening. Enter to win a copy of Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time by Courtney E. Smith in a random drawing!

Enter HERE!

You never leave home without your iPod. You’re always on the lookout for new bands, and you have strong opinions when it comes to music debates, like Beatles vs. Stones. For years, you’ve listened to men talk about all things music, but the female perspective has been missing. Until now.

Drawing on her personal life as a music enthusiast, as well as her experience working at MTV and in radio, Courtney E. Smith explores what music can tell women about themselves—and the men in their lives. She takes on a range of topics, from the romantic soundtracks of Romeo and Juliet to the evolution of girl bands. She shares stories from her own life that shed light on the phenomenon of guilty pleasure music and the incredible power of an Our Song. Along the way, she evaluates the essential role that music plays as we navigate life’s glorious victories and its soul-crushing defeats. Finally, here is a voice that speaks to women—because girls get their hearts broken and make mix tapes about it, too.

Check out official rules HERE.

Congratulations to last week’s winner, Ruthie from North Carolina, who received a copy of Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman.