Matthew SyedYou Are Awesome: Find Your Confidence and Dare to be Brilliant at (Almost) Anything

This is the best book out there for building confidence and resilience in kids (both girls and boys). I have bought both Rebel Girls books for my 10 year old niece and whilst she really liked those, she absolutely adored You Are Awesome. It was funny (she kept laughing out loud) but most importantly it was practical and gave her real ideas for things she might try to do differently. She said that she feels like she is more likely to be braver when she tries new things in future. That is awesome! Money well spent.

Fantastic book! I just started reading to my 8yrs old boy. He lacks confidence and I think this book nailed his language .I am reading with him, we have some good conversations about the topics. It is the sort of book that connects with them, gets their attention and makes them think.The most interesting is how my little one is now talking about it and wanting to learn about how he can improve. I didn’t want a pushy book going on about how you can be the best but just that it is important to believe yourself and if you are not good on something . You can practice and improve, if this is what you are looking for , this is the right book.

My grandson aged 10 loves the book

I like Matthew Syed, he comes across well in his writing and on radio and TV. I thought I would buy this book out of interest, despite me probably being slightly older than its target audience. It's not a difficult or long read, using simple language and being only 159 pages long with lots of large text and graphics. I read the book from cover to cover in not much more than an hour.The book uses Matthew Syed's journey from an average child to world class table tennis player and relates this to how anyone can become awesome at anything. The emphasis is that no one is born great at anything and that practice, hard work and perseverance is the key to becoming good at something. Syed talks about how hopeless he was at table tennis when his parents first bought him a table and that persistence, not natural talent led to his success. He talks about having a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset and how this is the key to success. Much is made of the importance of being unafraid to fail and breaking down large challenges into smaller parts and seeking marginal gains from all of them. The theme of the book can be summed up by the final few words: take a risk, dare to fail and give it your all.I would recommend this book for teenagers who might need some motivation in achieving their goals, especially as several examples of people failing but ending up triumphant are included from Steve Jobs to Michael Jordan to Jay-Z. Before reading it, I did think that the book might have a little more to give, but it is undoubtedly well written and I enjoyed reading it.

This is aimed at kids which I didn't realise, but it remains very readable and has some great observations regarding taking your life by the scruff of the neck and going for self improvement in terms of achieving goals. How to become the best you can be at your chosen skill, activity game etc. Light-hearted and based on his own achievements and how he got there. Get it for your (unmotivated?) kids and read it yourself. A fun read but remember it's really aimed at kids.

I bought this for my 8 year old boy who has just moved to UK from America and he was feeling a little down. He’s been reading a chapter a day and discusses it with us, sometimes reads it aloud.I wasn’t sure if he was absorbing it, but yesterday he tried BMX riding for the first time and was terrified- but he decided to give it a go and ended up loving it! Afterwards he said to me, it’s like what I learned in the book never give up mommy...keep practicing. I love the examples It gives on this, how what we see on tv of the best doesn’t show alll the hard work and effort they put in to get that good!As a family we practice growth mind set and and finding positives, but it’s good to find a resource that’s not coming from parents only!Last night my son also decided to give it to a friend who he thinks it might help as well. Highly recommend!

Brilliant book for parents, children and anyone involved with education. As a primary school headteacher I am recommending this book to all of my teachers and parents to get a copy. Written and presented in an easy to read attractive format with snippets of information and case studies, children of primary and secondary age will get a lot of inspiration from everything Matthew Syed has shared about being awesome! Growth Mindset, the importance of practice and understanding how stressful situations can impact on young people (and we older ones!) are some of the themes in the book. Highly recommend.

Syed is a great writer and I don't disagree with much of what he writes. But this book is about what inspires some people - it's not an inspirational book. Too much time is spent on his own success at table tennis. A week from now, I won't remember much of what I read. I guess what I am saying is that there is nothing new, exciting, or memorable here. It just re-hashes what hundreds of others have said since Gladwell's Outliers. How do you get good at something? Work hard and practice a lot. That's it!