Word: wunderkinds
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...adulation being heaped upon the new Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, who had streaked to prominence in his absence. Few people knew that Jefferson had authored the Declaration of Independence, which had yet to become holy writ for Americans. Instead, the Virginian was eclipsed by the 35-year-old wunderkind from the Caribbean, who was a lowly artillery captain in New York when Jefferson composed the famous document. Despite his murky background as an illegitimate orphan, the self-invented Hamilton was trim and elegant, carried himself with an erect military bearing and had a mind that worked with dazzling speed...
...just as older kids savor the Harry Potter books, so too may they enjoy the fantasy worlds conjured in Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke, and Eragon, by wunderkind Christopher Paolini. Inkheart is the suspenseful, darkly comic story of 12-year-old Meggie, who discovers the perils of fictional characters' coming to life. Eragon, by Paolini, who is only 19, is a fast-paced adventure tale that takes place in a fully realized alternate universe inhabited by a stew of dragons, swords and dark forces. By next year, you'll no doubt be able to supplement the literary gifts with Eragon action...
...does a guy become chief technology developer of the world's largest business-software company by age 34? Answer: by getting an early start. Shai Agassi, the diminutive Israeli wunderkind of German powerhouse SAP, programmed his first computer at age 7. "Other kids collected baseball cards," says Agassi with a grin. "I collected punch cards...
Thus far Maguire has made a career out of playing dreamy-eyed kids. He was a desperate adolescent in The Ice Storm, an undergraduate wunderkind in Wonder Boys, an innocent Candide in The Cider House Rules, and lest we forget, a secretive high school super-nerd in last year's blockbuster Spider-Man. But don't confuse him with any of those losers in real life. Offscreen, Maguire is as tough as nails, managing his resume as well as any other star in Hollywood. Look at the arc of his career. It's as perfect as the part in Peter...
...Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova, 16, pocketed $750,000 from Prince. The lucrative deals are a risk: athletic-company endorsements mean the kids lose amateur status and can't compete in college athletics, which can push them prematurely into the pro arena. The parents of tennis wunderkind Donald Young Jr., 13--the No. 1 player in his age group in the country--have been fending off agents since he was 11. "For now, we want to keep him amateur," says Donald Young Sr. "At this point, it's not about money. We want to keep control and guide him through...