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Off the Charts: Asynchrony and the Gifted Child. Edited by Christine S. Neville, Michael M. Piechowski, and Stephanie S. Tolan. Royal Fireworks Press: Unionville, NY, 2013. 492 pages, $30 (softback). ISBN: 978-0-89824-380-2
If a book is dedicated to Annemarie Roeper (and this one is) and begins with the premise that "anyone whose chosen field is meant to support the development of unusually intelligent humans needs to begin with an understanding of who he or she is" (p. 8), it is a book that is going to grab my attention. Off the Charts grabbed my attention from page 1, and held it throughout all 492 of its pages.
Not only is Off the Charts a great read, it is an important and necessary addition to the literature about how to understand and serve gifted individuals. In today's world, where giftedness equates with accomplishments completed and eminence obtained, the authors of Off the Charts (it is an edited book) take great pains to explain just how limiting this utilitarian view of giftedness is. As they quote one teenager, "I have done everything my parents and coaches have asked me to do-expected me to do. Straight A's, success in extracurriculars, well-behaved. But I don't know who I am" (pp. 3-4). Throughout the book's 19 chapters, the 14 authors (a "Who's who" roster...