This volume contains a collection of more than 50 articles and essays written by a professor of education at Kent State University who coordinates the undergraduate and graduate programs in gifted child education and directs a program for gifted students in grades 7-8. The articles, from publications such as "Education Week,""Parenting for High Potential,""Understanding Our Gifted,""Teacher Magazine,""Roeper Review," and "Gifted Child Today," address the characteristics of gifted children, teaching gifted children, and the difficulties faced by gifted youth. Each article includes a new introduction and the book debuts three new essays never before published. The articles and essays are divided into 11 parts and discuss the following topics: the lives of gifted students; gifted child education; standardized testing; gifted identification; differentiation; the fallacy of the theory of multiple intelligences; underachievement; designing the respectful classroom; student empowerment; the curriculum; classroom discipline; evaluating student work; parenting the gifted child; gifted advocacy; the social and emotional lives of gifted children; character education; gifted girls; self-concepts and siblings; and the portrayal of gifted children in the media. The book closes with an essay in praise of elitism. (Contains approximately 90 references.) (CR)