Back when I was teaching, my primary focus was on gifted and talented students. I taught grades 6, 7, 8, and 10, depending on the year. I had some students just once, but some I had 3 or 4 years. I understood those kids. I was well aware that they were, for the most part, smarter that I was. Maybe not wiser, but they definitely knew more about most subjects, especially ones I didn’t teach, like math and science. But when it came to literature, I could usually handle my own in our Socratic seminars. Anytime I stumble upon a book about gifted kids, I’m both excited and leery. So many authors get these kids wrong. They only write them as “smart” kids without any kind of dimension, flaws, or emotions. Anyone who knows anything about gifted kids knows that their dimensions, flaws, and emotions are just as important a characteristic as the intelligence aspect. I’m pleased to say this book gets it all right.
Teddy is a precocious 6-year-old when we first meet him. He’s in 1st grade and his teacher is fed up with him. Nearing retirement, the teacher thinks Teddy needs to keep his smart mouth shut and sends him to the principal for discipline. The principal quickly realizes Teddy is simply bored and needs to be mentally challenged, so he moves Teddy up to 3rd grade. Making friends is difficult for Teddy (such a GT problem), but he finds one friend this year.
Fast forward to high school. Teddy is 12, but has already skipped 4 grades. He also has a handful of friends, but realizes he will never fully understand the dynamics of high school popularity. He gets involved in computer programming, but things go awry, to put it mildly.
Fast forward to college. Teddy has already graduated from MIT and, at 18, is going for his PhD, but Teddy realizes he has missed being average. He spent his 4 years at MIT in his room, alone, studying, cramming his brain full of knowledge. He vows to enjoy life this time around. His roommate is on the baseball team and vows to show Teddy the time of his life, beer, girls, and parties.
We get glimpses into Teddy’s life in these three stages to see how his life evolves. Teddy longs to be normal at just about every moment in his life. Although he is happy doing math problems, programming computers, and reading books, the social aspect is tricky to navigate for him most of the time. I really enjoyed seeing how Teddy changed from child to adult. I taught some kids in 6th grade and through social media, have been able to follow their lives: degrees, marriages, babies, jobs, etc. It was wonderful to do the same with Teddy.
Pleasant Nights 