So Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking has been vaguely on my to-read list for some time, and then I learned recently that a young readers' edition aimed at middle and high school students is being published this year. Being the kind of person I am, I figured I'd want to read the young readers' edition and I decided it would be even more interesting if I could compare it to the original edition for adults. I found Quiet to be interesting and highly readable, integrating data from personality psychology and related fields with accounts of people who have used their introversion to great success and with a sort of cultural studies perspective on American society and its preference for extroversion, especially as seen in modern businesses (open floor plans) and educational systems (group projects). Another of its strong points is Cain's repeated insistence that no one is purely an introvert or purely an extrovert (think of a spectrum) and that people do not act exactly the same all of the time in all situations everywhere without fail. If you enjoy reading theories about what makes people tick, Quiet is a great option. I suppose if you are an extrovert surrounded exclusively by other extroverts, there may not be much of interest in this book, but if you are yourself more on the introverted side of things, or if you have close relationships with introverts, this book is a fascinating read and a useful explanatory tool as well.
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