“Tiger Mother” Amy Chua will be in Minneapolis on Friday to speak and promote her best-selling book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

It’s available at Barnes & Noble in the "parenting" section, which may cause some of you who’ve read it to choke on your morning coffee.

I’m heading over with some Woodbury women to see Chua. But first, this “rooster” mother weighs in on “tiger mothering.”

If you’re just hearing of Chua, you might live under a rock. Basically, Chua’s been skewered in the press for the heavy-handed parenting style describes in her book. A style she calls Chinese parenting but later expands the definition as a cultural clash of immigrant deference versus western rebellion.

She comes off a bit extreme… if not completely nuts. Like when she describes spending tremendous energy locating a piano so her daughter can practice for a few hours per day while on vacation.

But my sense is that Chua misfired with an attempt at brutal honesty. She exposed the intense nature of her personality with a sense of ironic humor that falls flat.

That’s unfortunate, because she got some things right. Like American parents slathering praise on their kids for the lowest of tasks.

I recall my own child crying once when his pinewood derby car didn’t win. We tried to mollify him with a trophy. He rejected it, saying: “That’s just for participation.”

Kids get it. And thankfully budget constraints seem to have eliminated ostentatious participation trophies. Expecting to be rewarded for non-performance shouldn’t be the modern opiate of our whining masses.

Chua also recognizes that we live in a meritocracy where hard work leads to better opportunities for future success. We can debate a kinder, gentler way than Chua’s of setting expectations or defining success. But at least she sets some standards.

She’s involved. Successful kids rarely come from homes with disengaged parents. She doesn’t only demand excellence. She provides a framework to achieve it.

Some complain about helicopter parents overly involved in their children’s lives. I’d argue that in an increasingly competitive global society that structure, guidance and networking of involved parents are necessary for children’s achievement.

That’s very different from never letting kids learn by doing or by failing. There’s a balance. But I’d lean toward more involvement than less.

Chua’s right that it should be virtuous to raise children who are not vulgar, lazy or entitled. Allowing kids to “follow their hearts” can lead to finding those hearts on the couch striving to beat the next level of Mafia Mario Madness or worse.

Kids need direction and often need to be nudged (pushed) to achieve worthwhile things that they’re capable of achieving.

Granted, each person has a different aptitude. Chua got that part wrong (plus the name-calling bit). She knows it and attempts to describe her transformation from hard-line, one-size-fits-all, control-freak parent to moderated cheerleader supporting her second child’s pursuits. Sadly, she comes off as hypocritical rather than enlightened.

Overall, I think Chua ponders what many parents do. How much choice should we allow our children?