If I'm So Smart, Why Aren't the Answers Easy?

Gr 7 Up—The authors surveyed more than 5000 students via the Gifted Kids Speak website to solicit responses about being gifted and to offer advice to other teens. Seven chapters cover topics such as, "What is giftedness?" friendships, expectations (parental, personal, and societal), how schools meet educational needs, family dynamics, and "A Look Toward the Future." After a brief introduction to each theme, the bulk of the chapters consists of quotes from respondents-identified only with their gender, age, and state-followed by an essay written by a gifted teen. "Your Turn" boxes, in which readers are challenged to reflect on their own feelings, are inserted throughout. The survey results are decidedly anecdotal, but reflect myriad personalities from confident to insecure, snarky to philosophical, athletic to sports-averse, regular gifted through profoundly gifted, happy and content to not. Gifted teens may enjoy browsing the topics in this book more than reading it straight through as the tone of the responses often veers negative and seems repetitive with prolonged reading. Still, there's something in this attractive volume for everyone, including parents, teachers, and nongifted students, who may gain some insight about their peers.—Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ