Book Awards & Honors

About the Book

With over 570,000 copies in print, What Kids Need to Succeed is a proven best-seller. Communities across the nation have embraced its quick-read, common-sense suggestions for helping kids lead healthy, productive, positive lives and stay out of trouble. The first edition identified 30 Developmental Assets™ essential to promoting success and preventing at-risk behaviors.

This revised, expanded, updated edition, based on findings from a recent nationwide survey conducted by Search InstituteSM, includes the latest information on asset-building and expands the original 30 assets to 40.

It describes new assets including caring neighborhoods, community service, integrity, cultural competence, and peaceful conflict resolution, then gives specific suggestions for building all 40 assets at home, at school, in the neighborhood, and in the faith community.

With over 900 specific, concrete suggestions to try, What Kids Need to Succeed makes anyone an asset-builder and a positive force in young people's lives. You also get checklists to help you identify the assets your kids already have so you can focus on the ones they need.

If you are a child’s caregiver, especially in their early years, I highly recommend reading this book and applying its suggestions faithfully. By the time the kids are teenagers, you’ll be really glad you did.