Author Biography

Luke Reynolds taught in public schools for many years before becoming an assistant professor of education at Endicott College. He is the author of the Fantastic Failures books, Surviving Middle School, The Looney Experiment, Braver Than I Thought, and the picture books If My Love Were a Fire Truck and Bedtime Blastoff!. He and his wife, Jennifer, have four sons, and they live in Massachusetts, where they endeavor to be outside and exploring as much as possible.

Review

In this follow-up to Fantastic Failures (2018), Reynolds shares stories of more people who found their way to success after failure. The names are famous-Barack Obama, Beyoncé Knowles, Greta Thunberg-and not so famous-like social worker and philanthropist Alan Naiman, and inventor of Kevlar, Stephanie Kwolek. They are diverse in age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, and the areas of their passions, but they all have one thing in common: They achieved and excelled only after intense, often prolonged, rejection, pain, confusion, difficulty, and/or discouragement. Reynolds uses the engaging technique of hooking readers by opening each profile with a paragraph that describes an easy, predictable climb to the top, written in the familiar tone of many puff pieces. He then follows this fictional, idealistic story with the real one. This pattern helps readers see that stories of easy success are much less interesting and impressive than tales of hard-won glory. Toward the end of each story, Reynolds addresses readers with thoughtful advice based on the life in question, encouraging them to see difficulties and detours as steppingstones on their paths to their purposes. The chapters are adorned with black-and-white portraits of each individual, tiny sidebars highlighting additional personalities, and separate, pagelong sections called "The Flop Files" with still more examples. A list of questions at the end encourages readers to think deeply about intrinsic motivation, core values, and big dreams. Directly and humorously written, this volume will cultivate a growth mindset. (Nonfiction. 8-14)

Review Quote

In this follow-up to Fantastic Failures (2018), Reynolds shares stories of more people who found their way to success after failure. The names are famous--Barack Obama, Beyonc

Excerpt from Book

Chapter 1: Barack Obama 1 BARACK OBAMA Consider the scene: a young man flanked by well-connected parents is announced as the forty-fourth president of the United States of America. Cue the crowd. The country is united, and Barack Obama''s journey to the microphone onstage fills him with reminders of how seamless--how truly easy--the quest has been. Red carpets were rolled out for him and his wife, Michelle, everywhere they went. Widely respected, he never had to deal with attacks on his character or his name. And all of his previous races for office--at the state and national levels--were met with resounding successes as well. Indeed, this night is a fitting capstone to a journey marked by victory after victory. Obama takes a deep breath, thankful that he has not had to deal with heartrending defeat and rejection, and he begins his acceptance speech. N ot! Barack Obama was indeed elected as the forty-fourth president of the United States of America, beginning his term in 2008. But his path to reach that pinnacle included far more failure and rejection than we can imagine. Case in point: In 2000, Obama attempted to be the Democratic nominee for the First District from the state of Illinois for the United States House of Representatives. This race would decide who would run for the House for the Democratic Party, and Obama was hoping he''d be the choice. Instead, he lost the race by thirty percentage points to his rival, Bobby Rush. Obama received a total of 31 percent of the votes in the election.1 Think about that. In the year 2000, running for the House of Representatives, the man who would become president of the entire country only eight years later received less than one-third of the support of one district in Illinois. This is after he had campaigned hard, knocked on door after door to introduce himself to people, given countless speeches, and participated in endless fundraisers. Consider studying hard for a big test that''s coming up. It''s huge. You''ve got the date marked on your calendar. Circled. Your teacher has said repeatedly that this test counts for a lot of your final grade. So, it''s go time! You study night after night, work with friends, memorize and talk the ideas through, and practice, practice, practice (and then practice some more). The big day finally arrives. You take the test, feeling like you gave it all you had. And after your teacher tallies the results, there is a big 31% on top of the first page, circled in bloodred marker. Ugh. What gives?! You feel floored. Defeated. And, let''s be honest, kind of hopeless. You gave it your all, and what did you receive in return? Thirty-one percent. Like Obama. So, how do you think that made him feel? Do you now think you can imagine it? But when a friend of his tried to re-inspire Obama by suggesting a trip to the Democratic Convention later that year, where Al Gore would be officially announced as the candidate for president, Obama agreed that maybe it was what he needed to reignite the spark. There was just one problem: he had no money. Okay, actually there was a second problem: no one knew who he was. Okay, actually, to be completely honest, there was a third problem as well: he couldn''t even get into most of the convention. After Obama''s flight landed in Los Angeles, he went to the rental car desk because he next had to drive to the convention at the Staples Center. Unfortunately, the attendant at the counter informed Obama that he would not be able to rent a car. His American Express credit card had been maxed out! He had used his last bit of available credit to buy the plane ticket to LA, but once there, it looked like he might not even be able to make it the last part of the journey to the convention center!2 Imagine a deep passion of yours--whether art or basketball or ballet--and using your last bit of energy to get to the art show or the championship game or the dance recital. You were not going to be in the show, game, or recital, but you wanted to be in the audience because you knew that passion was a part of you and what you still hoped to do in the future. But then you got turned away before you could even arrive at the site! Obama finally convinced the sales associate at the car place to let him rent a car, and Obama finally made it to the Staples Center and the 2000 Democratic Convention. Whew! Now that he was there, people would realize that he was a truly gifted individual. Right? They would realize that here was a person who could one day be president! Right? They would realize that they should definitely let him in to interact with the leaders of the party and the nominee for president, Al Gore. Right? Wrong. Obama made it to LA and then to the Staples Center and the convention, but he still couldn''t get inside the actual doors. He couldn''t hear the most important speeches, and he even left before the final day, when Al Gore officially accepted the nomination and gave his acceptance speech. In an interview with David Axelrod, who would become Obama''s senior advisor during his presidential run, Obama noted, "They [gave] me the pass that basically only allows you to be in the halls. The ring around the auditorium doesn''t actually allow you to see anything."3 Obama later wrote about the experience, "I ended up watching most of the speeches on various television screens scattered around the Staples Center."4 With a wife and young daughter back at home in Chicago--and another baby on the way shortly--Obama had no money, no direction, and was literally standing outside the doors of the career he had passionately thought he wanted. I ended up watching most of the speeches on various television screens scattered around the Staples Center. --Barack Obama So, a brief recap: Obama had lost his 2000 congressional primary race to represent Illinois in the US House of Representatives. He had earned only 31 percent of the vote. Because of the extreme effort and energy required during this fierce campaign, he had used essentially all the money he had and had maxed out his credit card as well. Then, when he attempted to attend the national convention, he wasn''t even allowed into the room. Dick Durbin, the US senator representing Illinois, commented about Obama at the 2000 convention, "I have no memory of him there. It was a disastrous trip for him."5 FROM WEAK TO PEAK! Even though she lost her political race for a state senate seat in Illinois, Ida B. Wells accomplished astronomical amounts while working toward justice: as a newspaper editor at the turn of the nineteenth century, Wells bravely wrote about lynching and demanded justice for victims. She also established programs for kindergartners, a women''s group, and a suffrage organization for African American women. How did all this feel? What did it make Obama think? He shared, "I felt as if I was a third wheel in this whole thing. I ended up leaving early, and that was the stage when I was really questioning whether I should be in politics."6 I felt as if I was a third wheel in this whole thing. I ended up leaving early, and that was the stage when I was really questioning whether I should be in politics. --Barack Obama The eventual forty-fourth president of the United States of America, who was elected not once but twice to the highest office in the country, once felt like he was a third wheel. Like he didn''t belong. Think about what that means for you and me, and for your best friend, Jada. (How did I know your best friend''s name was Jada? This book involves a lot of research, so I research everything!) That means that if you or I (or, yup, your best friend, Jada) feel like a third wheel in something, it doesn''t necessarily mean that we don''t belong. And it definitely doesn''t mean that we''ll never belong. All it means is that in one precise moment, we feel ignored. Rejected. Unseen. Unappreciated. Unknown. But we are not alone! Obama felt that way, too, yet he found a way to keep moving forward. You may be standing at the doors of your own convention center right now, trying to find a way in and hearing those in power tell you, "Sorry, you don''t have the right credentials. You''re not allowed." They may even slam the door in your face. NOT DIMINISHED... FINISHED! Louisa May Alcott became a sensationally successful author when her novel Little Women was published, but it took her years of struggle and rejection before she was able to break through with this novel, which is still widely read today. You may find yourself relegated to the hall, where you watch the action on a television set rather than in real life. That''s okay. That''s part of the journey. And if that convention center is a place you know you want to be, or a place where you know your voice needs to be heard, represented, paid attention to--then you won''t give up. You won''t politely allow those in power to tell you to back off, to go find somewhere else to frequent. No, you''ll learn, you''ll grow, you''ll keep using your voice (or creating your art, or dribbling your basketb

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