Announcement, announcement!
(Imagine a flourish of trumpets!)
On March 3, 2016, my new book, Out of Sync, Essays on Giftedness came out from Royal Fireworks Press, the publisher that brought the Columbus Group’s book Off the Charts to the world. Here is the link where you can check it out (and also buy it): http://www.rfwp.com/book/out-of-sync-essays-on-giftedness
This book is both new and old, because it’s a collection of my writings that have been published over more than three decades. Many, though not all of these pieces have been available for a number of years on my website, www.stephanietolan.com . Consequently, some of you will have read some of them already. That’s the “old” part. The new part consists of an introduction to each piece that provides a personal and cultural context.
My journey as a parent led from my husband’s and my concerns about our son’s schooling to concerns about American education, the definition and meaning of giftedness itself, the complexities of human intelligence and the reaches of the human mind, as well as how the differences we call giftedness affect one’s whole life trajectory. These are some of the subjects I’ve written about over thirty-plus years as my life and focus changed, in essays that are included in this book.
Unusually bright children are “out of sync” developmentally from birth, and will remain out of sync in one way or another throughout their lives, but they will only be children for a short time (one that can seem long in the midst of it, but like the blink of an eye at its conclusion). So in this eye blink from my perspective (1982 to the present) many parents who found my work helpful when coping with giftedness in their children (and themselves) have taken a journey from worrying about play dates for their kids to helping them choose graduate schools, or plan weddings. And yes, some are now becoming grandparents to a whole new generation of out of sync kids.
Sadly, the “old” stuff isn’t out of date, as I so wish it were. The same issues keep coming up. I see daily on social media questions from parents just beginning this journey that are exactly the same as the ones I faced and then worked (and wrote) to help answer. Last spring at a state gifted conference, I asked the audience of teachers and parents how many of them had read “Is It a Cheetah?”—my single most well-known piece, and the one I’ve been told has had the most success convincing educators that there really is a need to provide different nourishment for the different beings in their care. Only a few hands in that audience were raised, and it occurred to me that a new generation of parents and teachers is embarking on this journey who haven’t found the “old stuff” that can continue to provide a helpful guide to the obstacles out there, and some useful answers to the same old questions.
So that’s why this book—now one can get the pieces that readers have told me were the most helpful to them in one slim volume. (And BTW, the feet in those out of sync socks on the cover are my own!) Yes, I’m still out of sync, too.
Repeat: http://www.rfwp.com/book/out-of-sync-essays-on-giftedness
The Deep End 
Thank you. I couldn’t find your book in the usual places. Ordered it from Royal Fireworks. xxx Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2016 20:28:15 +0000 To: mamalois@hotmail.com
Thanks, Lois. Royal Fireworks does most of its business online these days, or selling at conferences.
Congratulations, Stephanie! Will the book be available on Amazon.com, or anywhere else online besides Royal Fireworks? If it is only Royal Fireworks, can you edit your bog to include a link to where to purchase your new book?
Heh…or, perhaps, for those of us who seem to forget what is at the top of a blog by the time we get to the bottom, add a link to the bottom, as well? (so embarrassing…)
🙂 Yes, I can put the link at the bottom. After all, I’m forever heading into a room for something and once I’m there I wonder what the heck I came for. Not available on Amazon…not now anyway. But it’s available electronically, I’m told.
Looking forward to reading it, Stephanie!
Thanks, Paula…
I just ordered this and eager look forward to reading it (and love the socks!). You are spot on that the old stuff is even more relevant and needed than ever, it seems. Your voice was one of the most influential in my own understanding of giftedness. Thank you.
thanks for that comment, Lisa. The only problem with those socks is that they take up a LOT of room in a shoe. The way an out of sync gifted kid can take up a lot of room in a *room*–or house.