Even More Fantastic Failures

True Stories of People Who Changed the World by Falling Down First

Luke Reynolds

• Publisher: Aladdin/Beyond Words
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN:
  9781534464896
• Print ISBN:
  9781582707341

The inspiring follow-up to Fantastic Failures brings together even more true stories of remarkable people who faced mistakes, rejection, and setbacks—and learned, adapted, and kept going—in this engaging celebration of resilience, perseverance, and the power of trying again.

Everyone makes mistakes—even the people we admire most.

Young people face plenty of pressure to succeed, fit in, and get things right the first time. But mistakes and setbacks aren’t signs that you should give up—they’re opportunities to learn, adapt, and keep going. In More Fantastic Failures, educator Luke Reynolds returns with another inspiring collection of true stories showing young readers that failure is a natural part of learning, growing, and discovering what they’re capable of.

Meet a fascinating and diverse group of people who faced rejection, disappointment, obstacles, and unexpected turns on their journeys, including Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg, Nick Foles, Emma González, Beyoncé, Ryan Coogler, John Cena, Socrates, and the Jamaican women’s national soccer team. Their stories reveal that accomplishment rarely follows a straight path—and that resilience, courage, perseverance, and the willingness to try again can make all the difference.

Along the way, Reynolds explores scientists and other innovators whose mistakes, failed experiments, and unexpected results led to important discoveries, reminding readers that sometimes getting something “wrong” can open the door to something entirely new. The “Off the Page and On the Screen” feature takes the idea even further, exploring memorable examples of failure and success from books and movies.

More than a collection of inspiring stories, More Fantastic Failures helps kids connect these lessons to their own lives. Each profile offers practical advice for responding to setbacks, learning from what happened, and figuring out what to try next.

Funny, encouraging, and filled with fascinating true stories, More Fantastic Failures celebrates resilience, perseverance, curiosity, and the power of trying again—giving young readers the confidence to see mistakes not as the end of the story, but as another place to begin.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Barack Obama
• Chapter 2: Kehkashan Basu
• Chapter 3: Alan Naiman
• Chapter 4: Nick Foles
• Chapter 5: Emma Gonzalez
• Chapter 6: Ryan Coogler
• Chapter 7: Boyan Slat
• Chapter 8: The Reggae Girlz (the Jamaican Women’s National Soccer Team)
• Chapter 9: Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Chapter 10: John Cena
• Chapter 11: Joan of Arc
• Chapter 12: Socrates
• Chapter 13: Phiona Mutesi
• Chapter 14: Stephanie Kwolek
• Chapter 15: Robert Indiana
• Chapter 16: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
• Chapter 17: Carvens Lissaint
• Chapter 18: Cristina Martinez
• Chapter 19: Ayanna Pressley
• Chapter 20: Mohamad Al Jounde
• Chapter 21: Mindy Kaling
• Chapter 22: Patricia Smith
• Chapter 23: Lorenzo Santillan, Cristian Arcega, Oscar Vazquez, and Luis Aranda (Carl Hayden Community High School Robotics Squad)
• Chapter 24: Jeremy Stoppelman
• Chapter 25: Beyoncé Knowles
• Chapter 26: Greta Thunberg
• Chapter 27: Lois Jenson
• Chapter 28: New Orleans Superdome
• Chapter 29: Grace Hopper
• Chapter 30: Haifaa Al-Mansour
• Conclusion
• Off the Page and on the Screen: Fantastic Failures from the Worlds of Film and Literature!
• Exercise: Creative Questions on Failure, Success, and All the Tangents in between to Get Your Mind Moving and Your Heart Pumping!
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Copyright