Virtuoso: Charles Johnson Pens Collaborative Children’s Book“I’ve never believed in boxing people or things into little, convenient cubicles,” says Charles Johnson, 65. A recently retired University of Washington English professor, he’s the illustrator and co-author, with his daughter Elisheba Johnson, of the new children’s book The Adventures of Emery Jones, Boy Science Wonder: Bending Time.

4-year-old with IQ of 145 becomes Mensa’s newest memberAnala Beevers is 4 and smarter than you. Anala – who learned the alphabet when she was only 4 months old, her parents say – has an IQ over 145. The New Orleans toddler recently was invited to join Mensa, the high-IQ society for people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on the standardized intelligence test.

How James Patterson Got His Son Hooked on BooksJames Patterson shares the tips and tricks that helped turn his reluctant reader into a voracious one.

Use Hip-Hop as a BridgeI have found that classrooms with the most success in engaging students in STEM have moved beyond teaching straight science, technology, engineering and mathematics and taken a more interdisciplinary approach. This approach, most commonly known as STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), has become a worldwide movement and made a tremendous impact on youth engagement and general access to STEM.

Too Few Girls and Minorities Study Tech SubjectsA big reason America is falling behind other countries in science and math is that we have effectively written off a huge chunk of our population as uninterested in those fields or incapable of succeeding in them. Women make up nearly half the work force but have just 26 percent of science, technology, engineering or math jobs, according to the Census Bureau.