“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” -Mortimer J. Adler

The impact of a book that speaks to us regardless of time or life circumstance is golden. It can touch us in ways that are inspiring, grounding, comforting, entertaining, and enlightening. Whether you are opening a classic you’ve never read before or returning to an old favorite for the thousandth time, books are ready and waiting to reveal something in ourselves and the world we didn’t see before.

Here at IEA, we all love to read! We know so many of our community members are often looking for resources to meet the needs of the gifted children in their life. Below are a few links we thought would be helpful for the gifted mind and heart.

Happy Reading!

1. The best blog for gifted heroines, written by power girl and past IEA Program Manager NiñaAbonal: https://ieastaging2.wpengine.com/blog-girl-power-books-with-gifted-heroines/
2. Books by grade level, adjusted for the high-octane reader: http://www.thekidstory.com/books-for-gifted-kids/
3. Great reading resources where you’ll find books by topic, including literature that offer help and hope for gifted children and adults as they process grief and loss: https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/reading_lists.htm
4. 12 pages of “Good Books for Verbally Talented Learners” organized by genre: http://www.watg.org/uploads/3/4/6/1/3461451/books_for_verbally_talented_learners.pdf
5. Extensive database of suggested reading lists and books within books!: https://www.davidsongifted.org/search-database/topic/105273/entrytype/2

Also, this month, we invite you to join IEA in making a lasting impact on gifted youth by participating in our first-ever peer-to-peer fundraiser, the IEA Read-a-Thon. With your help, we will reach (and hopefully surpass!) our goal of raising funds to help advance IEA’s mission of supporting a diverse community of gifted minds that fosters a sense of belonging and affirmation.

Please visit our IEA Read-A-Thon page where you can view real-time updates on our fundraising progress and meet some of the amazing individuals that make our community so special. You can even take a page from their suggested book lists and reading challenge favorites and join our upcoming Book Chat on Saturday 10/10 and tell us about the books that have sparked your creativity, integrity, passion, and perseverance. We hope you are inspired to join a team, create your own fundraising page, become a sponsor, or donate what you can.

Feel free to share what you’re reading by using the hashtag #ReadwithIEA.

“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax all you need is a book!” – Dr. Seuss

IEA kicked off our Read-a-Thon just over a week ago! Since then we have held our kickoff event, our first game of trivia, and we are getting set for our first round of virtual book clubs. In times like these, our IEA family is more important than ever. The IEA Read-a-Thon is a time to connect, share, fundraise, and read together.

We know not everyone is in a position to give right now, but if you are, we appreciate any amount that you’re able to give to support this fundraiser. Our goal is $20,000 and we are already over 25% of the way there!

It is not too late to join! Check out the IEA Read-a-Thon kickoff video and follow these simple instructions to join one of our four IEA fundraising teams!

1. Go to the IEA Givelively fundraiser page.
2. Click on “I Want to Fundraise for This.”
3. Click on “I Want to Join a Team.”
4. Choose which team you wish to join and create an account.
5. Build your personal fundraising page; add a photo, your personal statement, and your fundraising goal.

Finally, start sharing your fundraising page! And please join us for our upcoming book clubs!
Click on the title of a book to register for its book club:

Saturday, October 3
9:00-10:00am PDT
• A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

10:15-11:15am PDT
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
• We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson

Saturday, October 10
9:00-10:00am PDT
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger

10:15-11:15am PDT
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Wonder by RJ Palacio

While we are not physically able to be together right now, our virtual community is coming together to learn and grow. Thank you for your support so we can continue to support gifted children and create nurturing, enriching experiences that foster all aspects of each participant’s intellectual and personal growth.

COUNTING BY 7s
By Holly Goldberg Sloan
Dial Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by Seth Freeman, Writer/Producer and IEA Board Member

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old girl who sees the world in multiples of 7, patterns involving 7, subsets of 7. 7 is her favorite number.

She can learn a new language, even one as difficult as Vietnamese, in a couple of months. She will get a perfect score on pretty much any SAT-type of test that she takes, and she will finish the test in a fraction of the time allotted.

She is neither arrogant nor falsely modest about her abilities. Her facility is simply a fact of the universe, something she studies, like the growth of plants, human disease conditions, and human behavior in general. Willow also happens to be a very caring person, keenly observant and slyly funny, and it is a pleasure to share her company on every page of Counting by 7s, Holly Goldberg Sloan’s smart, engaging, and deeply moving new novel.

But Willow is also someone who has experienced more misfortune in her short life than any kid or even adult should ever have to endure. With the help of a small group of off-beat, yet well-drawn and believable, characters, Willow not only survives, she thrives, and somehow, as she meets the challenges of adversity, she manages to elevate the lives of almost everybody with whom she comes in contact.

Counting by 7s is a wonderful book, entertaining and thoughtful enough to gain a wide readership beyond its target audience of young adults. The adventures of its appealing central character will make it a novel of special interest to anyone who knows or who has experienced the life of a gifted young person.

Is there a book or resource that you love? Please share with us by commenting below or by emailing IEAgifted@educationaladvancement.org. We’d love your input for our next recommendation!

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