Book excerpt: questions are discussed in this interesting study about what it is like to grow up gifted, the realities of school, the expectations of others, and the choices the gifted make in adulthood. Contemporary Psychology This volume summarizes a study designed to assess the outcomes of early identification and schooling for a group of highly gifted children. The subjects were graduates of one of America's most selective educational institutions, the Hunter College Elementary School (HCES). HCES developed as an outgrowth of a series of experiments and philosophical statements reflecting the political and social history of the United States in the first half of the 20th century, and was created in1941 to serve children with IQ scores at least two standard deviations above the mean. This book proposes that the reported reflections of individuals in their 40s and 50s, who were selected at approximately age 4 for special instruction on the basis of high IQ scores, can provide insight into the development of future educational options for gifted students. The objective is to contribute these unique perspectives to the literature that describes and analyzes the long-term outcomes of educational decisions concerning the identification and education of gifted children.