Lenora Chu Boeken

New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice; Real Simple Best of the Month; Library Journal Editors’ Pick. This hard-hitting exploration delves into China’s acclaimed yet insular education system, often seen as a model of academic excellence, raising crucial questions for American parenting and education. After Shanghai students topped international rankings in 2009, an American journalist of Chinese descent, Lenora Chu, observed the stark contrast between her boisterous toddler and the well-behaved Chinese children. Curious about the secret behind China's academic success, she enrolled her three-year-old son, Rainer, in a state-run public school. While he thrived, becoming fluent in Mandarin and making friends, troubling behaviors emerged. To understand the system, she interviewed parents, teachers, and education experts, uncovering a military-like approach driven by high-stakes testing, public rankings, and punitive measures for non-compliance. Despite these issues, she also found a government initiative aimed at easing students’ academic burdens. As she investigates further, Chu questions whether Chinese children—and her son—pay too high a price for their obedience and academic promise. She challenges readers to consider what Westerners might learn from China’s education journey while contemplating the true value and purpose of education.

In 2009, Lenora Chu, her husband Rob, and toddler Rainey, moved from LA to the Chinese megacity Shanghai. The US economy was spinning circles, while China seemed to be eating the planet's economic lunch. What's more, Shanghai teenagers were top in the world at maths, reading and science. China was not only muscling the rest of the world onto the sidelines, but it was also out-educating the West. So when Rainey was given the opportunity to enroll in Shanghai's most elite public kindergarten, Lenora and Rob grabbed it. Noticing her rambunctious son's rapid transformation - increasingly disciplined and obedient but more anxious and fearful - Lenora begins to question the system. What the teachers were accomplishing was indisputable, but what to make of their methods? Are Chinese children paying a price for their obedience and the promise of future academic prowess? How much discipline is too much? And is the Chinese education system really what the West should measure itself against? While Rainey was at school, Lenora embarked on a reporting mission to answer these questions in a larger context. Through a combination of the personal narratives and thoughts of teachers, parents, administrators and school children, Little Soldiers unpacks the story of education in China.