Sunday, September 15, 2013

What is Hilary Levey Friedman reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Hilary Levey Friedman, author of Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture.

Her entry begins:
I am a voracious reader and always have been (in middle school when this became quantified through a program called Accelerated Reader I won “Reader of the Year” every year and made it onto the programs “International Honor Roll,” even writing reading comprehension tests for new books). So far in 2013 I have read 63 books, which means I’m averaging about two books per week.

This makes sense given that at any time I am reading a fiction book and a non-fiction book. The non-fiction books are almost always related to my work on parenting and childhood and afterschool activities. Right now I’m excited to read David Epstein’s The Sports Gene, as it relates to my interest in sports, the body, youth, and medicine. The book...[read on]
About Playing to Win, from the publisher:
Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture follows the path of elementary school-age children involved in competitive dance, youth travel soccer, and scholastic chess.

Why do American children participate in so many adult-run activities outside of the home, especially when family time is so scarce? By analyzing the roots of these competitive afterschool activities and their contemporary effects, Playing to Win contextualizes elementary school-age children's activities, and suggests they have become proving grounds for success in the tournament of life—especially when it comes to coveted admission to elite universities, and beyond.

In offering a behind-the-scenes look at how "Tiger Moms" evolve, Playing to Win introduces concepts like competitive kid capital, the carving up of honor, and pink warrior girls. Perfect for those interested in childhood and family, education, gender, and inequality, Playing to Win details the structures shaping American children's lives as they learn how to play to win.
Learn more about the book and author at Hilary Levey Friedman's website and blog.

The Page 99 Test: Playing to Win.

Writers Read: Hilary Levey Friedman.

--Marshal Zeringue