鈥淵ou can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax all you need is a book!鈥� 鈥� Dr. Seuss

优蜜视频 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 优蜜视频 family is more important than ever. The 优蜜视频 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 优蜜视频 Read-a-Thon kickoff video and follow these simple instructions to join one of our four 优蜜视频 fundraising teams!

1. Go to the 优蜜视频 .
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
鈥� by Madeline L’Engle
鈥�  by Rebecca Skloot

10:15-11:15am PDT
鈥� by Roald Dahl
鈥� by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson

Saturday, October 10
9:00-10:00am PDT
鈥� by Louis Sachar
鈥� by Jeffrey Kluger

10:15-11:15am PDT
鈥� by Pam Munoz Ryan
鈥� 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鈥檚 intellectual and personal growth.

Debbie Abilock (1999), the Co-founder of Educational Vision & Content, identified five facts about gifted readers:

1. Gifted readers are skilled, flexible readers who read often;
2. Gifted readers monitor their reading;
3. Linguistically rich texts are especially suited to gifted readers;
4. Gifted readers use other strengths in response to听听 the听听 particular demands of the text; and
5. Gifted readers are passionate readers who find books to love.

For gifted readers, finding a book that sparks their interests and contains a character they can relate to is part of the delightful experience of starting a new adventure. However, it鈥檚 often difficult to find books that portray strong, female leads who display gifted traits. So, I’ve compiled a list of books that may be of interest to young, gifted female learners. These stories include rich language, complex plots, and female protagonists who are inquisitive problem-solvers. Due to the variability in gifted children鈥檚 reading skills and interests, the books are not categorized by age or grade level.

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Anne is a poor orphan who lacks social graces and education; despite this, she has a rich and sophisticated fantasy life and an optimistic and generous spirit. Because Anne acts according to her instincts and not according to a code of manners, she unintentionally defies expectations of proper ladylike behavior.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L鈥橢ngle

Meg Murry is a high-school-aged girl who is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother and her friend to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from evil forces.

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

This is a story of a strong friendship between a farmyard pig named Wilbur and a grey spider named Charlotte. Wilbur is a spring pig, and he is distressed to learn that he is being fattened for slaughter in the fall. Charlotte resolves to save Wilbur.

Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

Menolly loves music and hopes to live out her musical dreams as an apprentice Harper, but quickly encounters hostility from a number of her male peers and masters. With the help of new friends, teachers, and her nine tiny, colorful dragons, Menolly finds that her musical talents may be stronger than anyone could imagine.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

Twelve-year-old Claudia decides to run away from home with the help of her little brother, Jamie. With Jamie’s money and Claudia’s smarts, they bust out of the suburbs end up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Kira is an extraordinarily talented young girl who finds herself suddenly orphaned and taken to live in a mysterious government compound near the center of her village. There she meets other equally talented and creative children, and together they discover the truth about themselves, their parents, and their society.

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Eleven year old Harriet is an aspiring writer who hopes to become a novelist. She keeps a journal filled with her observations about her classmates, friends and the people she sees in her neighborhood every day.

Hild by Nicola Griffith

Hild, the king’s youngest niece, has a glimmering mind, powerful curiosity and a natural, noble authority. She鈥檚 born during a time when Britain is experiencing great change as small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. She becomes a captivating woman and a pivotal figure of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby.

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

Mia has synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. Forced to reveal her condition, she must look to herself to develop an understanding and appreciation of her gift.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda is a precocious girl who lives with her mean parents and bratty brother. Ignored at home by her family, she escapes into the wondrous world of reading, exercising her mind so much she develops telekinetic powers.

Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee

Millicent is a certified genius. By age 11, she’s been on TV shows, won the state math bowl, and has been on the Dean’s List every semester in high school. However, she can鈥檛 seem to figure out how to make and keep friends and knows she doesn鈥檛 have much in common with average kids. All of that changes when her mom enrolls her in a girls鈥� volleyball program for the summer.

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Rebecca is one of seven fatherless children, but is full of fun and strange ideas. She leaves her family at Sunnybrook Farm and goes to live with her two aunts in Riverboro. There she goes to school for the first time, embarks on a madcap scheme to sell soap, nearly runs away, and befriends a kindly stagecoach driver who helps her repair her family’s fortunes.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl, who up until听 now has been homeschooled, starts school at Mica High as a tenth grader, where Leo is starting his eleventh grade year. Stargirl’s entrance to school is a big deal for all the students and she immediately causes a commotion with her wacky outfits and even wackier behavior

Saving Lilly by Peg Kehret

Erin and her friend refuse to go on a field trip to the Glitter Tent Circus because of the sad lives of circus animals. Erin is determined to force Mrs. Dawson to change her plans or she’ll stage a sit-in at school. She also discovers that Lilly, a mistreated elephant, is about to be sold to a hunting park. She goes on a quest to save Lilly before it鈥檚 too late!

Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary

The enthusiastic Ramona is having a hard time starting first grade. Her teacher can鈥檛 seem to understand her and she doesn鈥檛 get along with her classmates. She faces quite a few challenges as she tries to make it through the first grade. But, as tough as it is, she is determined to be brave.

Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest by Nancy Springer

Thirteen year old Rosemary is orphaned when her beloved mother dies. She’s grown up among the woodland creatures her mother loved and has never met her father, the outlaw Robin Hood. So she decides to change her name to Rowan, disguise herself as a boy, and undertake a dangerous journey in search of Robin Hood.

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Brady

When her grandfather is injured, 10-year-old Ellen Toliver replaces him on a top-secret patriotic mission. She disguises herself as a boy and manages to smuggle a message to General George Washington.

Yolanda鈥檚 Genius by Carol Fenner

After moving from Chicago to Michigan, fifth grader Yolanda, big and strong for her age, is determined to prove that her younger brother is not a slow learner but a true musical genius.

Books have the magical ability to ignite our imagination. They can transport us into an uncharted world and even transform how we see ourselves and the world around us. If you鈥檇 like to expand your search for books with gifted characters, here are a few websites to get you started:

Also, if you have a book recommendation, feel free to share them in the comments below!

Resources: Abilock, D. (1999). Librarians and gifted readers:听 Myths and facts. Knowledge Quest 27(5), 30鈥�35.

Like this post? to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

New and Selected Poems, Volume 1 by Mary Oliver

鈥淚 give my highest, unqualified recommendation to this collection, whose wisdom continues teaching me what it means to be attentive. Good reading for summer nights.鈥�

– Brianna Safe

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

鈥淢arie Kondo has a writing style that invites you to read slowly and deliberately and enjoy every word.听 She has a relationship to objects that makes them seem to have feelings, which many of us gifties can relate to. (Which is why I can never throw away a pen.)听 And it just feels freeing to try her method.鈥�

– Zadra Rose Iba帽ez

The Cuckoo鈥檚 Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 resist reading another novel by the fabulous J.K. Rowling, and her writing pulled me in immediately, as usual.鈥�

– Jennifer Kennedy

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront毛

鈥淚 love this story both for its beauty and for how it teaches me. Throughout the novel, Bront毛 asks compelling and profound questions about love and the nature of goodness in a person鈥檚 life. Jane Eyre is a captivating and challenging read that I always enjoy.鈥�

– Morgan Carrion

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

鈥淚t is deeply contemplative, insightful, and introspective. I like how Robinson deals honestly and lovingly with some of the most profound questions regarding religion and faith.鈥�

– Jennifer de la Haye

My Struggle: Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard

鈥溾�業 saw life; I thought about death.鈥� Slowly slogging my way through this six-book autobiographical series, whose literary voice echoes the cinematic eye of fellow Scandinavian Ingmar Bergman. Not for the easy reader or faint of heart.鈥�

– Brianna Safe

The Mysterious Benedict Society, Book 1 by Trenton Lee Stewart

鈥淪uch an engaging story about bright young kids. It actually reminds me a lot of A Wrinkle in Time. I will definitely be getting a copy for my nephew!鈥�

– Jennifer Kennedy

Walking Away by Simon Armitage

鈥淚t鈥檚 British poet and novelist Armitage鈥檚 account as a sort of 鈥榯roubadour鈥�, walking the south-western coastline of the UK, and the people he meets who feed him and accommodate him in return for a poetry reading. It鈥檚 a testament to the beauty of the British landscape, the therapy found in walking (and being blasted by the elements) and, most reassuringly, the enduring power of poetry. He鈥檚 also just been nominated as Oxford鈥檚 Professor of Poetry 鈥� and !鈥�

– Louise Hindle

Brainstorm by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel

鈥淚 love the scientific analysis behind adolescent behavior 鈥� this type of understanding is empowering.鈥�

– Jennifer de la Haye

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

鈥淭his book helped me uncover hidden blocks to reaching for what I wanted and gave me a new perspective for dealing with obstacles in my life.听 I absolutely experienced a paradigm shift in how I relate to what matters to me.鈥�

– Zadra Rose Iba帽ez

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

鈥淎nother excellent novel from my favorite author. I get caught up in the language and storytelling ability of Picoult every time. The extended metaphors in this novel relating to wolf behavior and wolf pack dynamics add an interesting dimension as well.鈥�

– Jennifer Kennedy

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

鈥淭he book is a fictional account of two sisters struggling to survive the atrocities of World War II in German-occupied France鈥攐ne a resistance fighter in Paris, the other a mother and teacher in the countryside. I鈥檝e read a lot of material about the horrors of the Holocaust, but never from the perspective of the French people.鈥�

– Bonnie Raskin

Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults

鈥淲hat鈥檚 most exciting about this multi-authored text is the underlying principle that IQ is not an isolated piece of the individual. The work asks two questions: How can this principle help avoid inaccurate diagnoses and the conflation of giftedness and behavioral/emotional/mental disorders?听 And how can we understand the intersection of giftedness and these disorders (dual diagnoses) in a way that preserves the child鈥檚 needs first and foremost?鈥�

– Brianna Safe

听

What books are you reading this summer? We鈥檇 love to know. Please share in the comment section below.

听

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Be Yourself

鈥淚t is very frustrating not to be understood in this world. If you say one thing and keep being told that you mean something else, it can make you want to scream. But somewhere in the world there is a place for all of us, whether you are an electric form of decoration, peppermint-scented sweet, a source of timber, or a potato pancake.鈥� 鈥� Lemony Snicket, The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story

“Never be ashamed! There’s some who’ll hold it against you, but they’re not worth bothering with.” 鈥� J.K. Rowling

鈥淏e who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don鈥檛 matter, and those who matter don鈥檛 mind.鈥� 鈥� Dr. Seuss

You are Unique and Special and Complex; Embrace It

鈥淭here’s such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn’t be half so interesting.鈥� 鈥� L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

You Will Find Your Tribe, and It Will Be Magical

鈥淜indred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.鈥� 鈥� L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

鈥淲e are all a little weird and life鈥檚 a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.鈥� 鈥� Dr. Seuss

Use Your Talents to Make the World a Better Place

“‘We can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.'” 鈥� Madeline L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” 鈥� J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter

Do Not Be Afraid of Failure or Obstacles

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” 鈥� Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Live in the Present

鈥淵esterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.鈥� 鈥� A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Embrace Life鈥檚 Quiet Moments

鈥淚n this modern world where activity is stressed almost to the point of mania, quietness as a childhood need is too often overlooked. Yet a child’s need for quietness is the same today as it has always been鈥攊t may even be greater鈥攆or quietness is an essential part of all awareness. In quiet times and sleepy times a child can dwell in thoughts of his own, and in songs and stories of his own.鈥� 鈥� Margaret Wise Brown

Dream Big

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream” 鈥� C.S. Lewis

鈥淟isten to the mustn鈥檛s, child,
Listen to the Don鈥檛s
Listen to the shouldn鈥檛
The Impossible, the won鈥檛s
Listen to the never haves
Then listen close to me 鈥�
Anything can happen child,
Anything can be.鈥�
鈥� Shel Silverstein

鈥淗ow do we know imagination isn’t just a different way of knowing something? A message from outside.鈥� 鈥� Stephanie S. Tolan, Welcome to the Ark

Listen to Your Heart

鈥溾�楨yes are blind. You have to look with the heart!鈥欌�� 鈥� Antoine de Saint-Exup茅ry, The Little Prince

Believe in Yourself

鈥淧romise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.鈥� 鈥� A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

What are your favorite lessons from children鈥檚 literature? Share in the comment section below.

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Related reading:

April 2 is International Children鈥檚 Book Day, so we thought it would be fun to highlight some great children鈥檚 books for gifted kids. Here are five of our picks:

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Hermione is clearly gifted, as evidenced by her perpetual thirst for knowledge, heightened sense of justice, advanced academic acceleration, adult-like wisdom, and sharp intuition. The series also appeals strongly to kids who feel “different” and those with imaginational overexcitabilities.

Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald Sobol
Both Encyclopedia Brown – named thus for his wealth of knowledge and understanding – and his bodyguard, Sally Kimball, exhibit qualities of gifted children. Encyclopedia鈥檚 intuition allows him to solve his police officer father鈥檚 cases by listening to the evidence, closing his eyes, thinking, and asking a single question that leads Encyclopedia to the solution. Sally and Encyclopedia work together to solve neighborhood cases using their abilities to observe and intuit at a level that most young children are unable to understand.

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Harriet thrives on routine, she is obsessive and, similar to the other characters on my list, she has the ability to observe and process information at an accelerated rate. She struggles to thrive in relationships with the other children in her class, yet she shares a deep connection with her nanny, Ole Golly.

Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss
As with most of Dr. Seuss鈥� stories, Bartholomew and the Oobleck relays a moral lesson through a story that uses quirky and creative language, made-up, whimsical words, and silly but complicated names. Bartholomew Cubbins, King Derwin of Didd鈥檚 page boy, would not necessarily be considered gifted, but the story itself might appeal to gifted children. It is longer and more advanced than many Dr. Seuss stories and emphasizes the importance of gratitude for our world, no matter how boring it may seem at times; the value of humility; and the importance of sincere reconciliation. Oobleck is a sticky, thick substance that blankets the town and completely hinders everyday life, and though it may appear to be one of Seuss鈥� famed word concoctions, oobleck is, in reality, a viscous substance made from corn starch.

The Boxcar Children series created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Each of the siblings in this series exhibits at least one gifted quality: Henry鈥檚 innate intelligence and abundance of knowledge; Jessica鈥檚 ease in an adult role, meticulous particularity, and fearlessness; Violet鈥檚 sensitivities and love for animals; and Benjamin鈥檚 acute curiosity comprise many of the traits with which a gifted reader might identify.

As a bonus, here are some additional recommendations from our Facebook fans and blog readers:

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L鈥橢ngle
• Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

We also recommend , whose books our gifted kids cannot get enough of!

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