Range (Adapted for Young Readers): How Exploring Your Interests Can Change the World

Gr 5 Up–Speaking directly to middle grade and high school students, Epstein makes a compelling case for why young people should sample many different subjects and activities rather than follow a specialized path from an early age. While acknowledging that hyper-focusing can bring some people success, to prove his point he cites multiple studies and includes clearly written, well-chosen examples from many disciplines, such as sports, music, science, and literature. Readers do not need to have expertise in any area to understand the biographical sketches, which include women and men from varying backgrounds and countries. The chapter about the history of Nintendo and Gunpei Yokoi will be of high interest as readers learn how a man employed to maintain machines that made playing cards had so much extra time on the job that he became a “tinkerer” in order to fight boredom. His career included designing physical toys, remote control cars, and eventually the Game Boy. The original version of Range, published in 2019, is presented sometimes as a counter-argument to Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers and his “10,000 Hours Rule” for achieving world-class expertise. While that may be an oversimplification, in adapting this work for young readers, Epstein creates a handbook that will be valuable to anyone trying to understand how multiple pathways can lead to success.