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Learning Outside The Lines : Two Ivy League Students With Learning Disabilities And ADHD Give You The Tools For Academic Success and Educational Revolution
Written by two Ivy League graduates who struggled with learning disabilities and ADHD, Learning Outside the Lines teaches students how to take control of their education and find true success with brilliant and easy study suggestions and tips.
Every day, your school, your teachers, and even your peers draw lines to measure and standardize intelligence. They decide what criteria make one person smart and another person stupid. They decide who will succeed and who will just get by. Perhaps you find yourself outside the norm, because you learn differently—but, unlike your classmates, you have no system in place that consistently supports your ability and desire to learn. Simply put, you are considered lazy and stupid. You are expected to fail.
Learning Outside the Lines is written by two such “academic failures”—that is, two academic failures who graduated from Brown University at the top of their class. Jonathan Mooney and David Cole teach you how to take control of your education and find true success—and they offer all the reasons why you should persevere. Witty, bold, and disarmingly honest, Learning Outside the Lines takes you on a journey toward personal empowerment and profound educational change, proving once again that rules sometimes need to be broken.
Every day, your school, your teachers, and even your peers draw lines to measure and standardize intelligence. They decide what criteria make one person smart and another person stupid. They decide who will succeed and who will just get by. Perhaps you find yourself outside the norm, because you learn differently—but, unlike your classmates, you have no system in place that consistently supports your ability and desire to learn. Simply put, you are considered lazy and stupid. You are expected to fail.
Learning Outside the Lines is written by two such “academic failures”—that is, two academic failures who graduated from Brown University at the top of their class. Jonathan Mooney and David Cole teach you how to take control of your education and find true success—and they offer all the reasons why you should persevere. Witty, bold, and disarmingly honest, Learning Outside the Lines takes you on a journey toward personal empowerment and profound educational change, proving once again that rules sometimes need to be broken.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 1999
108 people are currently reading
1288 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
August 2, 2017
Appreciate the effort, but wasn't terribly useful.
The first part of the book is personal history -- how two people overcame difficulties to get into the Ivy League. It is interesting to see that in both cases the key to admission seemed to be to build up years of working very hard and being very determined -- and to have the audacity and aggressiveness to push the admissions office to take them.
The second part of the book is a long list of habits, tricks, strategies, and advice. I thought it was a little too directing -- the whole point of the first part of the book was that everyone does things differently, but the second half had to kind of be "do it our way!" or you don't really have a book. I also didn't care much for how much of the advice was about how to hit the checkpoints without doing the work. To be clear, the authors value learning for its own sake, but they clearly learned from their years in school that learning for the sake of a teacher is a fool's game, and gaming the system is perfectly acceptable. I don't disagree with that, but I'm not sure why you would be strive to enter a system you don't value -- why go to Brown just to work to get the grades without doing the work? Why not spend your time on something else?
It was interesting to pair this with some of what "Excellent Sheep" detailed -- the author there says that getting into an Ivy League school is difficult, but once you are there it is almost impossible to fail a class. Everyone expects at least an A- in every course, there is ridiculously high grade inflation, you don't have to work hard at all to pass a class. I don't know if that's true, but he makes an impressive case for it being so, and Learning Outside the Lines certainly backs that up -- much of the advice, for example, is about how to not read the assigned books.
Again, I'm not criticizing, just wondering why the authors went so far and no farther. Why, for example, be so justifiably disgusted with the school system but not recommend or discuss home schooling? Why disdain college but write a book about how to get into the most competitive schools and graduate? And I wonder, did they pay the $50,000 a year tuition in full for the privilege of attending a school they did not respect? Could they not have done more with their resources?
In any case, not a bad book to read, gives interesting perspectives and handy tips. There is a decent amount of cussing and other content that makes it not a good choice for a younger child to read alone, probably -- which is too bad, because I can see adolescents and upper elementary kids getting a lot out of the personal stories. Also, they discuss their youth organization, which is a good thing.
The first part of the book is personal history -- how two people overcame difficulties to get into the Ivy League. It is interesting to see that in both cases the key to admission seemed to be to build up years of working very hard and being very determined -- and to have the audacity and aggressiveness to push the admissions office to take them.
The second part of the book is a long list of habits, tricks, strategies, and advice. I thought it was a little too directing -- the whole point of the first part of the book was that everyone does things differently, but the second half had to kind of be "do it our way!" or you don't really have a book. I also didn't care much for how much of the advice was about how to hit the checkpoints without doing the work. To be clear, the authors value learning for its own sake, but they clearly learned from their years in school that learning for the sake of a teacher is a fool's game, and gaming the system is perfectly acceptable. I don't disagree with that, but I'm not sure why you would be strive to enter a system you don't value -- why go to Brown just to work to get the grades without doing the work? Why not spend your time on something else?
It was interesting to pair this with some of what "Excellent Sheep" detailed -- the author there says that getting into an Ivy League school is difficult, but once you are there it is almost impossible to fail a class. Everyone expects at least an A- in every course, there is ridiculously high grade inflation, you don't have to work hard at all to pass a class. I don't know if that's true, but he makes an impressive case for it being so, and Learning Outside the Lines certainly backs that up -- much of the advice, for example, is about how to not read the assigned books.
Again, I'm not criticizing, just wondering why the authors went so far and no farther. Why, for example, be so justifiably disgusted with the school system but not recommend or discuss home schooling? Why disdain college but write a book about how to get into the most competitive schools and graduate? And I wonder, did they pay the $50,000 a year tuition in full for the privilege of attending a school they did not respect? Could they not have done more with their resources?
In any case, not a bad book to read, gives interesting perspectives and handy tips. There is a decent amount of cussing and other content that makes it not a good choice for a younger child to read alone, probably -- which is too bad, because I can see adolescents and upper elementary kids getting a lot out of the personal stories. Also, they discuss their youth organization, which is a good thing.
January 28, 2020
Not bad. Decent methods, but it's told in a hyper-sexual way that feels cringey -- like the authors aren't comfortable talking about their advice without leaning heavily on innuendo.
January 3, 2021
In what could've been summarised into a pamphlet, LOTL is a slightly helpful guide for getting study done. There's nothing new here and the personal stories don't add anything to the work.
March 22, 2023
Some interesting and helpful tips. However, I did not car for the author’s sense of humor. They were filled with adolescent sexual innuendos which was so not necessary. Without them I would have taken the book more seriously.
November 19, 2023
One of the best books I have ever read. I wish I would’ve read this book in high school… not my 5th semester of graduate school! This is so helpful, for all learners. It embraces all aspects of academic success.
March 30, 2024
Though slightly dated (from the turn of the 20th century), this book actually has a lot of great tips and ideas for nontraditional learners (read: everybody) to consider and utilize to maximize their learning in environments where educators come to teaching and learning with a one-size-fits-all model. The authors provide a great many strategies for college success and I think in some ways, much of what they have said has been integrated in parts to first-year seminars and college-prep courses. They manage to pack a lot about how to get the most out of any course and provide lots of practical approaches to learning. In the wrong mindset, one could read this as "hacks" to college but realistically, they provide meaningful support structures for learners who "study harder" just sounds like dumb and unactionable advice (most of us, really). In that way, I'm grateful for such a book and will draw on the many ideas they provide to include and advise students in the future. What they offer in total is in some ways a "hidden curriculum" that students can activate to do much better than how teaching and learning may traditionally happen. However, the book is very much the product of two guys whose editor was too impressed with their story (framed as two kids who somehow managed to graduate from Brown despite having learning disabilities) to really push them to write better. What's most jarring is the repeated references to sex and orgasms and similar commentary that is sometimes meant to be funny but falls flat at least in contemporary readings and distracts from the more poignant advice that they offer. Thus, it's a book I might pull tips from but not necessarily recommend.
June 26, 2008
Absolutely every teenager with LD/ADHD should read this book. Jonathan Mooney and David Cole know what it feels like feel to be on the business end of an F. Mooney is dyslexic and didn’t learn to read until he was 12 years old. Cole has ADHD, and spent more time in the hallways of school than he did in the classroom. But they both managed to turn their lives around, and with enormous feats of resilience and determination, managed to graduate with honors, from Brown University. They know how it feels to be a kid with LD/ADHD who has to face the fact that every day schools, teachers, peers and even some parents measure intelligence according to standardized tests and other narrow-minded constructs. Mooney and Cole found themselves on the outside of the norm, and they learned differently from their classmates, they were expected to fail.
Mooney and Cole teach encourage young people to take control of their education in order to find true success and happiness. They show them the whys and hows of persevering. Funny, triumphant, inspiring, and disarmingly heart-felt, Learning Outside the Lines guides the reader on a quest toward personal empowerment and educational transformation, proving once and for all that rules are made to be broken. Also, look for Jonathan Mooney’s second book: The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal.
Mooney and Cole teach encourage young people to take control of their education in order to find true success and happiness. They show them the whys and hows of persevering. Funny, triumphant, inspiring, and disarmingly heart-felt, Learning Outside the Lines guides the reader on a quest toward personal empowerment and educational transformation, proving once and for all that rules are made to be broken. Also, look for Jonathan Mooney’s second book: The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal.
July 11, 2017
This book was an eye opening book from an educators standpoint. The book is a memoir of two students with learning disabilities, and how they overcome them to attend Brown University. The book includes advice and tips for other students with learning disabilities. Overall, a great read that I would recommend to others.
August 3, 2019
Mooney and Cole offer an honest and insightful look into their lives, both successes and struggles, as students with LD/ADHD. In addition to their personal stories of failure and triumph, they also discuss their non-profit, Eye-to-Eye, designed to help elementary and middle school students that suffer form LD/ADHD and struggle in school. However, most of the book is dedicated to tips and pointers for LD/ADHD students to find success in college, specifically. Among the wisdom they offer, including recommendations for organization, test taking strategies, essay writing, and note taking, there is some questionable advice as well. This suspect insight includes a continued advocacy against reading entire assignments. As a student who suffered form severe dyslexia, and overcame a great deal of academic failures to graduate from an Ivy League school like Mooney and Cole, I appreciate the encouragement and guidance they offer students like me. Mooney and Cole stand as an example for other LD/ADHD students and show what someone with LD/ADHD can accomplish with the right attitude and determination.
April 20, 2023
Their story and struggles resonated with me. That alone was worth reading. I also appreciate the mission of this book and bringing awareness to the idea of both alternatives and Eye to Eye.
While I imagine it’s authentic to the authors it still felt unnecessarily crass at times. I didn’t feel like it was necessary to swear to get their point across, or the constant use of very sexualized metaphors. It’s not that it’s wrong, but it’s distracting from what is otherwise already a relatable, good story.
I’m studying my masters and while some of the tips were helpful, it also feels a bit dated and less applicable as we transition into online degrees.
That said, their story and struggles will always be relevant. That is absolutely worth reading just to feel like I’m not alone.
A solid 3.5.
While I imagine it’s authentic to the authors it still felt unnecessarily crass at times. I didn’t feel like it was necessary to swear to get their point across, or the constant use of very sexualized metaphors. It’s not that it’s wrong, but it’s distracting from what is otherwise already a relatable, good story.
I’m studying my masters and while some of the tips were helpful, it also feels a bit dated and less applicable as we transition into online degrees.
That said, their story and struggles will always be relevant. That is absolutely worth reading just to feel like I’m not alone.
A solid 3.5.
December 7, 2022
As someone with multiple learning disabilities I love and appreciate this book! There's not many self-help books or any books at all about learning disabilities and ADHD. But this book made me feel seen. 🙂
This book has very helpful tips of how to be successful in college for neurodivergent college students. I currently use their tips for school and it really helped me. After reading this book I'm a straight A college student and I am currently a member of the most prestigious honor society in the world for colleges.
This book help me reach my full potential. Thank you Jonathan Mooney and David Cole. ❤️🙂
This book has very helpful tips of how to be successful in college for neurodivergent college students. I currently use their tips for school and it really helped me. After reading this book I'm a straight A college student and I am currently a member of the most prestigious honor society in the world for colleges.
This book help me reach my full potential. Thank you Jonathan Mooney and David Cole. ❤️🙂
March 4, 2020
Excellent book! Great tips for anyone, not just outside the box learners. It was well organized and I felt that it covered everything that a college student faces. It should be read by any classroom teacher as well as by parents of outside the box learners. But most of all, it should be read with the outside the box learner maybe even starting with junior high (though there are some age inappropriate comments thrown in now and again--parental discretion advised). I think it would be an encouragement that he/she isn't the only one, and that there is no one best way to learn.
June 11, 2025
No offence to the authors, but this was an awful book. I appreciate their vulnerability to share their experiences, but that’s all it felt like in the book. A memoir of what helped and what didn’t growing up and then explaining strategies that literally everyone knows nowadays. Not only was it completely useless and not giving any good information you don’t already know. It is weirdly sexual. It is completely unnecessary to throw in sex and porn analogies, it gives nothing to the content of the book and makes it give off a weird vibe for the rest of the book.
July 8, 2020
Learning Outside the Lines is a great tool for students, especially if you are that "bad" student, you don't get good grades, you are not organized. However, if you are a "good" student, many of those tips you probably already do it.
Concluding, the title says something really important. If two students with learning disabilities got in Ivy League school, why can't you either? Everything is obtainable for who really wants it.
Concluding, the title says something really important. If two students with learning disabilities got in Ivy League school, why can't you either? Everything is obtainable for who really wants it.
February 9, 2023
I strongly recommend this book for high school and college students!
This book would have helped me SO MUCH in college, and I plan to implement the research strategies in my freelance writing. I listened to the audiobook and now I plan to buy the hard copy version of this book so I can see the examples for note-taking for research projects. I also want to share this with my kiddos, who both have learning differences.
This book would have helped me SO MUCH in college, and I plan to implement the research strategies in my freelance writing. I listened to the audiobook and now I plan to buy the hard copy version of this book so I can see the examples for note-taking for research projects. I also want to share this with my kiddos, who both have learning differences.
July 29, 2023
This book is incredibly dated (which isn't the authors' fault, it was published in 2000) but it was also incredibly juvenile and I'm disappointed in the podcast that recommended this book for what now seems like inexplicable reasons. Based on the rec I expected it to be more about the story, which I was interested in, and less about the tips for how to get by in school with a learning disability, which I was not. But the title leans heavily into the tips part so that's on me.
September 26, 2025
I was given this book years ago after an evaluation. Never read it until now. I think my mind was resisting for a reason, and yikes. Yeah. There’s a ton of mixed emotions here; it’d take all day to explain why this book is insufficient and not worth any attention. Primarily, though: very outdated and written by manchildren with very inappropriate humor. There’s better resources on this sensitive topic.
October 28, 2021
I liked the stories in the beginning, especially appreciating the personal struggles the authors went through because it really shows anyone can be successful academically. However it falls short on "giving the tools" part. The advice is just regular study advices combined with common sense. I did not find anything special/new/groundbreaking with this book.
December 20, 2021
This book is amazing to understand how someone with a learning disability and what they are going through. It was very well detailed and I actually took many things away from this book as an educator.
However, if you are looking for useful tips and tricks and practical activities, this is not the book you should go with.
However, if you are looking for useful tips and tricks and practical activities, this is not the book you should go with.
October 28, 2018
I'd recommend this for all kinds of students who have to learn from a book; it explains a lot about different ordening systems, how to process your information... It may give a head start, even for students with no disability whatsoever.
May 14, 2021
This is a helpful read prior to the commencement of post secondary. If I could go back in time and hand it to my pre post graduate studies it would have been more helpful.
September 4, 2021
Funny and engaging. Numerous helpful tips for unconventional learners. Quite oriented toward younger college students who might find the crudeness less tiresome.
October 5, 2022
I was super excited for this book but, unfortunately, it fell short for me. Ditto to the pamphlet comment
September 11, 2024
Not super relevant to my situation or what I thought the book was about. The info is very outdated being 20+ years old.
November 3, 2020
It's a good book for people trying to pass college and not a very helpful one for people who are just trying to learn stuff on their own and are having a hard time with it. Useful advice, I guess, but not the one i was looking for.
October 5, 2016
Brilliant. Clear. Revealing. Practical. Encouraging. Long overdue wisdom.
October 14, 2011
I had to read this book for one of my education classes, and when I started to read the opening the book I was shocked with how it was written. The book is written by two college aged young men who talk about their horror stories of their education career before they started college. A story of determination is then developed into all these different kinds of tips about writing essays, reading homeowork, note taking, and much more! I found some of the tips or parts of their story I could relate do or did with my own assignments. Whether you have a disability yourself, you know someone who does, or want to go into education, the book is a very light read, and very funny, so you should read it!
February 15, 2015
I bought the book for the study tips, but in my opinion, that was the weakest part of the book. Sure, there was some usable stuff in there (the section on writing was especially useful, especially for someone who suffers from severe writing anxiety), but most of it was pretty obvious. What lifted the book most where the first and last chapters. Reading Mooney's and Cole's mini autobiographies of their experience in the modern American education system is moving and really awakens you to the many flaws of the system. The last chapters on looking for success and fulfilment beyond academics and cultivating a full and balanced life is something we often need to remind ourselves of. Overall, it is a quick, easy, and pleasant read with a good number of gems to take home.
September 2, 2007
If you are a teacher of any kind, you really NEED to read this book. I saw Mooney at a conference in Breckenridge and he changed the way I view kids with disabilities. His story is amazing enough, but the strategies he puts forth to help kids of all kinds get through the maze of public education are invaluable!
June 2, 2012
This book is brilliant. The strategies outlined in it are valuable whether or not you have learning disabilities. It should be read by all! One caveat: it contains swearing (mostly in the first few chapters) and lots of references to sex throughout the book, in the form of childish humor. Even if you would normally walk away from such a book, I would still recommend it. The ideas are that good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews