Even More Fantastic Failure is a great collection of stories about real individuals who have failed in life and succeeded later. It has many popular people and many you might not have heard of, which not only made it interesting but made me learn a lot! In the back of the book it also includes films and books that include failure in them to highlight the struggles, and give you more options of things to watch and read. I also enjoy the cute exercises as the end.

Overall, I think this is a really useful educational tool and it is written in such a fun, lighthearted and comedic tone that I can see middle graders all the way up to adults enjoying it.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Beyond Words Publishing for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This was such an uplifting and inspiring read!
I loved the writing style, it made for a quick and easy read, very engaging.
I'll definitely take this book into account to recommend in the future to my friends and colleagues.

Excellent book for the classroom. Can be read all at once or in little chunks/chapters. Students will love it!

An amazing book that show that failure is not always bad instead to learn from them and proceed forward. This book has formatted in a way that will encourage the readers to look beyond the mistakes. You can read this a page at a time to the kids and I'm sure they'll understand and learn all the good lessons that this book has to offer.

This book is just great, I liked it very much it shows you a great things that came due to things or events, which were called failures or were actual failures, and led to happy events and great success.

I love a good nonfiction book, even one intended for a younger audience. I agree that it is important to educate young people about the importance of failure as well as success. This is the second book by Luke Reynolds about successful people who failed at things before they were eventually able to succeed.

I appreciate the diverse mix of people that the author profiles. It is incredibly important to show children that everyone can be successful, not matter who they are. I had my son read this book with me, which was a great help for this review! He was very interested in reading about so many different people who struggled early in their lives and careers. We had a frank discussion about the fact that we are in a position to have a sturdy roof over our heads, food on the table, and both of his parents have jobs that provide the resources we need to live. Along with this discussion, we talked about some of the people who were profiled in the book, about their beginnings and how they never gave up.

This book encourage my son to think about himself, his classmates, and life in a new way. I really felt like this was the point of the book and I am so happy that I was able to get an advance copy of this book to share with him.
I would recommend this title to any young readers!

I did receive a galley copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

'Even More Fantastic Failures!' has a really great premise and lots of information for children. A mix of common knowledge figures like Barack Obama mix with those who are lesser-known like Virginia Apgar creating a nice blend. The thing that lets it down however, is the formatting of the E-version. Sentences get cut in half, and random letters appear in the middle of words. I would have given this 5 stars for the content but unfortunately because the formatting renders it virtually unreadable I would go with 2.5 stars.

What a great way to show kids that it's OK to fail! Right now, as kids have low self-esteem and see failure as a weakness, this book shows them that it is a strength. My 9 year-old loved this book. I would definitely recommend it.

Even More Fantastic Failures True Stories of People Who Changed the World by Falling down first.
Elementary school, Middle School, High School, College, your first job.! Do you believe this is the path to success? If you believe this then you are NOT alone. We are taught from a young age that to be successful you need to succeed in grade school, you need to succeed in Middle School, you need to succeed in High School and your need to succeed in college. That success is seen in good grades, and club memberships. Even More Fantastic Failures shows us that that trajectory is far from accurate.. To succeed in life and make changes that impact the world one must encounter failure head on. In fact one can expect to encounter failure over and over again. One can also expect to put in endless hours of work that seems to lead no where. There may be moments that you are tempted to take an easier path. Sometimes taking that different course may be exactly what you need to do. But know that the struggle is worth it. The author, Luke Reynolds, shares many interesting facts about individuals who have found success and what it cost them. Barack Obama, Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me), J.R.R. Tolkein,, Beoyce, Lyn ManuelJoan of Arc, Nick Foles (MVP player in the 2016 football season), Socrates, Mary Shelley (wrote Frankenstein) faced major challenges but they never gave up.. In the end the world benefited
I would recommend this book to middle school students and their teachers. It is an inspiration and full of many great discussion starters

I loved the book's description and while it did accomplish what it set out to relay, I can't say I really liked the it overall. It's wonderful for children to see famous people's struggles but I don't really see what President Obama's credit card debt has to do with his successes, nor do I see a child being interested in that kind of obstacle. Each figure faced different challenges but they were approached from an adult's perspective rather than a child's. Even though there is great information that some may appreciate, I can't say that I am one of those people.

Thank you NetGalley and Beyond Words Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

This book gave some really good information, but the organization of material made it difficult to understand and stay on topic. I would not recommend this book in this format.

Luckily I found more favour with this book as I went along through it. Sure, I liked the factoids about the young Barack Obama struggling to get to political conventions with maxed-out credit cards, and so on, but I found the author's approach really off – constantly interjecting the real-life stories with exercises in empathy, so the young reader might know what the subject felt like, and platitudinous life advice-manual rewrites telling us to stick at things until they're all alright in the end. What's more, a lot of all that felt done in such an OTT, heavy-handed manner, which was a great shame. But while I never managed to get over the cheesy devil's advocate openings to every chapter, presenting some cloudcuckooland version of the truth, I did find the worth in the book. It's almost as if it was designed to show it could be a success made of a failure itself. Chapters that came later, such as Socrates' unique style in getting known, and ones offering hints to a form of success that seem counter-intuitive, if not counter-cultural to the target reader, are where the book proves its worth. I still don't know what "now-epic" means in describing "Frankenstein" (is it now a thousand pages longer than originally written?), and it pretends Beyonce's execrable sextet on a TV talent show was a foursome, so it isn't a perfect success, but it does prove its virtues – eventually. Three and a half stars, or perhaps a B-minus.

This book details the failures of tons of famous people worldwide. Each chapter starts out with a sanitized bio--the version you'd get if there were no road blocks, no failures, no hiccups. And then it begins to tell the real story, of how things weren't so easy, and how things didn't always align perfectly for our hero or heroine.

Ultimately, as the into states, this book is to help young people (and adults) rethink what failure is and also redefine what success means to them. Sometimes our failures help us focus in on our purpose in life, sometimes failure helps us redefine our purpose. But ultimately, failure should be something we are all okay with.

I think this is a good book to help promote growth mindset and healthy attitudes around failure and pursuing our dreams. Society puts a lot of pressure on young people today, and books like this can hopefully ease that pressure while still setting them on a course for a bright future.

The writing is also pretty funny, and the examples used are varied in age, race, gender, ethnicity, and nationality.

This is the second book that Luke Reynolds has written about "Fantastic Failures."  I gave the earlier title four stars observing

"This book, written by a seventh grade English teacher, is replete with the biographies of those who faced significant challenges in reaching their goals.  Each entry starts with a fantasy description of how things went, before, more accurately, detailing the setbacks that were faced along the way. The author believes that it is important that young people focus, not on being perfect, but on risk taking and learning. He tells his own story of having been a poor student and then turning things around. The author offers comments to students suggesting coping mechanisms when they face challenges. This book is broad and expansive. It would be an excellent resource for students and school libraries."

I stand by these earlier comments while noting that in the introduction to this title readers will learn about the author's baseball experiences.  The message remains the same. Some of those featured in this volume include Socrates, Emma Gonzales, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joan of Arc along with many more.  There are also sections called "The Flop Times" that are about people including Michael Phelp, Ta-Nehisi Coates and others.  Some of the entries in these sections are also about groups as for example the U.S. Women's Soccer Team.

This title is an inspiring resource that is written in a very readable style.  I highly recommend it for elementary school aged children.  The message of the book is so encouraging and hopefully will be welcomed by its readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I didn't enjoy this book very much. There were some interesting insights into how famous inventors had failed (and additional details not often mentioned elsewhere) but the text layout was uninspiring, Somewhat claustrophobic, and I'd appreciate more pictures. You'd think the authors would want to show you something but...pages of text. However, it is a galley proof so maybe it will be updated.

I'm not one to voluntary peruse nonfiction titles unless it is a subject I have a clear interest in. After reading Reynolds' first book titled Fantastic Failures and its popularity among my students, I knew I had to read this one.

This book is a quick read and the chapters are relatively short. This allows this book to be read in multiple short sittings when having a long time to read is difficult. I read this book waiting for appointments, waiting in lines, and yes even while eating breakfast. Each chapter covers a different character and allows the reader to learn what they need without too much depth. It spans many subject areas, geographical locations, and time periods. This allows the reader to pick and choose which subjects might interest them more than others. The humor and writing style absolutely will be appealing to middle grade readers. A great addition to a nonfiction collection in an elementary school library.

The publisher generously provided me with a copy of the book upon request on NetGalley. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

I have been reading this book for the past two weeks bit by bit because it's a non-fiction and really helps me prepare for a fantastic day in the mornings and evenings!
This one is simply amazing considering that the writing style is crisp and sarcastic at times (I took it all in good sense of humour).
The collection has got personalities from all walks of life including the young and the old; from almost every field and their gritty successful stories.

I won't be describing each and every chapter here but all I want to say is that the chapters are pretty short and mentions all the important things to say about each of these personality.
However, in some I find it totally unsatisfactory regarding the fact that they were written really short.

But what mattered to me the most while reading this collection was the people who I would have never known had it not been for this book like that young girl of Indian origin who's fighting for a social cause. Thanks to this book I now have lots of people to look up to. (Yes, reading such books about real life people do help a lot than not reading them or just going for self-help books blindly!)
I would have loved the book more if more details were given.
Overall, it is a good read and I would recommend this collection to everyone of any age!


Thank you #NetGalley for the copy of the book #EvenMoreFantasticFailures

Even More Fantastic Failures is a fun, inspirational book full of stories about people who attempted, failed, and yet tried again, sometimes staying in the same field and sometimes taking off in a new direction for other pursuits. And in the end, there is success.
Reynolds relates failure/success stories based in many fields - science, entertainment, sports, writing, and chess are just a few- and across different eras. Charlotte Brontë rubs shoulders with Joan of Arc while Ta-Nahesi Coates appears near Socrates and Béyonce.
Written with a dash of humor that seems geared toward middle grade kids, the tone may grate on adults trying to read straight through. Taken a bit at a time, though, this is a fun book, reassuring in a time when our perceptions of other people's lives are skewed by the happy perfection-presentations served up by social media.

Thanks to Net Galley and Beyond Words Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had some issues with this one (not least of which the sub-title 'people who changed the world'? In some cases, yes, but for most, not hardly!), but I support its aims, and so I commend it as a worthy read. The book has thirty chapters, not all of which are devoted to a person. Some chapters have a secondary story (called 'The Flop Files') about someone or something, as well as inset boxes with very brief stories, so it's packed with information.

That's where my issues came from though: some of the information is somewhat misleading or doesn't tell the whole story. The chapters cover these topics:

Barack Obama with a sub-story about Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Kehkashan Basu
Alan Naiman with a sub-story about Virginia Apgar.
Nick Foles with a sub-story about fireworks.
Emma Gonzalez with a sub-story about the 54th Mass. volunteers.
Ryan Coogler with a sub-story about George Lucas.
Bryan Slat
The Reggae Girlz with a sub-story about the USNW soccer team.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
John Cena with a sub-story about Michael Phelps.
Joan of Arc
Socrates with a sub-story about Mary Shelley.
Phiona Mutesi with a sub-story about Queen Victoria.
Stephanie Kwolek with a sub-story about penicillin.
Robert Indiana with a sub-story about Specks!
All American Girls Professional Baseball League
Carvens Lissaint with a sub-story about Bette Graham.
Christina Martinez
Ayanna Presley with a sub-story about William Wilberforce.
Mohammed Al Jounde
Mindy Kaling with a sub-story about Kalani Brown.
Patricia Smith
Carl Hayden Community High School Robotics Squad with a sub-story about The Toronto Raptors.
Jeremy Stoppelman with a sub-story about Norm Larsen.
Beyoncé Knowles with a sub-story about Bruce Springsteen.
Greta Thunberg with a sub-story about Angela Zhang.
Lois Jenson
New Orleans Superdome
Grace Hopper with a sub-story about Janet Guthrie.
Haifaa Al Mansour with a sub-story about Roxane Gay.
As I mentioned, I had some issues with some of the information presented here. I don't undertsand some of these pairings. Putting the US Woman's national (soccer) team with the reggae Girlz (also a soccer team) makes sense, but pairing Emma Gonzalez with the 54th Mass. volunteers? Does the author not realize that rampant ownership of military grade weapons is the driving force underlying Gonzalez's campaign? I doubt she'd want to be associated with an actual military outfit! Phiona Mutesi with a sub-story about Queen Victoria? However, those are just quirks so I really not much bothered about that. Below are some examples of the issues I'm really concerned with.

The achievements of the US women's national soccer team (USWNT) have been extraordinary, but they went out of favor with me after strutting all over the Thailand team which they beat 13-0 in 2019. I never thought I'd see a women's team behave like Donald Trump. The book has nothing to say about that, attempting to silence critics of their unconscionable behavior by quoting Mariah Burton Nelson who apparently claimed that criticism of the women's team stems from a fear of successful women! That's not only arrogant, blinkered, and presumptuous, it's plain wrong to blindly tar everyone with the same ill-advised brush. Personally I don't fit into that pigeon-hole.

I've been highly supportive of the women's team and enjoyed their success for many years, but I can't support a team harshing like that on fellow women when that opposing team was quite clearly outmatched. I didn't even have a problem with their scoring of 13 goals. What I objected to was the theatrics after every goal, as though the goal had been scored miraculously against impossible odds when there had been no such achievement. The insane strutting and posing after every single goal was shameful exhibitionism shaming a team that was clearly being overwhelmed.

If the USWNT had done that same thing against a more equally-matched team like the Brazilians, or the Germans, I would have had no problem with it, because then it would have been earned, but this was not, and it diminished the US team to behave like that. I support women in sports and equality, especially in pay and especially for the USWNT after all they've achieved, but that same team has fallen steeply in my esteem after that shameful and embarrassing exhibition.

On the topic of Charlotte Brontë, yes, Robert Southey did tell her that "literature cannot be the business of a woman's life," but what this book doesn't mention is that he did praise her talent. I found that omission to be dishonest. It makes it sound like he was completely negative and dismissive of her when all he was doing was expressing the prevailing sentiments of the day among men. Yes, that's unacceptable, but back then it was the norm. It's misleading to portray him as some arrogant jerk of a guy walking all over a novice female writer.

I'm not sure why Stephanie Kwolek was paired with a sub-story about penicillin, but since Kwolek worked for Dupont which has, at best, a questionable record with regard to what I shall call 'chemical abuse', a word about those failures might have been a better use of space than one about penicillin. Not that Kwolek was involved in the invention or the ill-advised use of Teflon, but still!

I'm not sure why basketball player Kalani Brown was included as a sub-story with comedy writer and actor Mindy Kaling, but Brown's story is hardly one of failure! She missed four free throws in a row? So what? She came from a family of sports players so she had a leg-up into her sporting life, and was no doubt not a stranger to losing a game here and there much less to missing a throw. That story seemed odd and hardly fit into the theme of the book.

Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, Or the Modern Prometheus was hardly the failure it's represented as being here. No, it did not take off as a best-seller from day one, but it was well-received (despite some criticism) and it sold well in her lifetime. A better story would have been to tell how Mary bounced back after her husband drowned.

One of the inset box stories talks about Eliud Kipchoge, a marathon runner, but the box makes no mention of the sponsorship he got from Nike, and the fact that he wore controversial and specially-designed running shoes for his attempt! These are the same kind of 'augmented' shoes that were under critical review recently, and which several other people have broken records while wearing.

That's all I'm going to write about the issues I had. I think the book in general is well-written and tells an important story about not giving up, but I'm not sure it makes it clear enough that giving up on one thing to turn attention to another is an important part of life and success. The diversity in the book is commendable, but it's also very sports-heavy and once again it's very USA-centric as though only important success stories occur in North America, and the rest of the world not so much, but while I dislike that kind of dangerous nationalism, I do consider this a worthy and inspiring read overall.

Even More Fantastic Failures by author Luke Reynolds is a great look at how failing can lead to greater things! Awesome for children and a perfect way to encourage young children to keep going!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.