Book excerpt: The second edition of Understanding the Social and Emotional Lives of Gifted Students presents a comprehensive treatment of social and emotional development in high-ability learners. This text: Discusses theories that guide the examination of the lived experiences of gifted students. Features new topics, such as cyberbullying and microaggressions. Covers social and emotional characteristics and behaviors evidenced in gifted learners. Includes considerations for gifted underachievers, gifted culturally diverse students, twice-exceptional students, LGBTQ gifted students, and young people from low-income backgrounds. Describes gifted students' friendships and family relationships that support them, contextual influences that shape their social and emotional lives, and identity development. The author provides a wealth of field-tested strategies for addressing social and emotional development. In addition, the book offers a plan for designing a gifted-friendly classroom environment to support the social and emotional well-being of gifted students and a comprehensive collection of resources to support professionals in gifted education research and practice.