This book really spoke to me, and I know that it will touch countless others. Like Chua’s daughters, I fall under the category of “model minority.” I grew up playing hours of piano, finessing my Korean, and striving for no less than A’s in school. While reading the book, I completely empathized with Sophia and Lulu. Why did I have to miss school field trips so that I could play the piano? Why were my friends rewarded for a B when my mother was asking me why I missed the one question preventing me from getting a perfect score? Even while empathizing with Chua’s daughters, however, I completely understood and agreed with Amy Chua’s parenting methods. Her book made me look back onto my childhood and despite the fact that I resented so much of what my mother made me do at the time, I am completely indebted to her now and appreciate her persistence and stamina.

Chua’s parental practices, which might sound terribly harsh to a Westerner, represent something totally different in the Asian cultural context. The truth is, the world is a harsh place, and Chua, like my parents and countless others, is preparing her kids with “tough love.” My mother often asked me, “Do you think it’s easy to be hard on you? I would love to be the parent who just plays with you all day. If you succeed and do well in the world, who does it benefit? Me? No, it’s you.” My mother’s tenacity in learning my coursework with me, memorizing my piano pieces, and guiding me through every step of the way has made me endlessly grateful to her. I know that I worked hard, but like Chua, my mother worked even harder and this can only be understood as a sign of their love for their children.

I am so glad that Chua has written a book that truthfully portrays the experience of growing up with Asian or what Chua dubs as “Chinese” parents. All of my Asian friends appreciate the sacrifices their parents have made for them, whether it is working round the clock in a 7-Eleven to fund their kids’ college educations, shadowing their children’s educational careers, or sacrificing their own professional careers to chauffeur their kids between school and extracurricular activities. Although many may have resented this parental attention at times, in the end, they have all appreciated the dedication of their parents and rather than cutting ties as soon as they turn 18, they plan on supporting their parents in their future. Chua perfectly captures this cultural style of parenting, and she does so with humor. She knows that her parenting techniques sound harsh, and she makes fun of how extreme she can be at times. Yet in every page of the book, we can catch glimpses of her love for Sophia and Lulu. For example, her music practice instructions to her daughters are filled with inside jokes and pet names. Chua’s witty way of describing her trials with her daughters and her honest descriptions of her daughters’ searing criticisms of her share with the public a style of parenting, that she does not argue as being the best, but as a different one, nonetheless filled with unconditional love and desire for her children to succeed and be prepared for the world outside the safety of their home. I highly recommend this fascinatingly captivating book to all parents and their grown children; it’s a reminder that parental love comes in all forms.