disability – One Chapter

The Beat I Drum by Dusti Bowling

5 stars Middle School

“Positive: It’s great that none of us are perfect, because perfection is boring.”

He was trapped inside his own body, and he didn’t know the way out. It was just the way it was. He tries to control things, but it never worked. It was just the way it was.

“how about when you take a drink of something that goes down the wrong pipe, and you instantly start hacking and coughing and your eyes water and you can’t stop. Next time that happens, concentrate every bit of energy you have on NOT coughing. Just ignore that searing tickle in your lung. Can you image feeling that way all the time? I mean All. The. Time. Welcome to my life.” Welcome to the life of Connor who has Tourette’s Syndrome with Tics.

Connor lives with his mother in an apartment and when the landlord arrives at their door, Connor answers it. Mother and son know the apartment rules, yet the landlord knows firsthand that they are in violation of one of the rules. The landlord has also received a complaint from another resident. The threat of eviction looms over the family. How can they deny this violation when the landlord himself has witnessed it? They can’t. Welcome to the life of Connor who has Tourette’s Syndrome with Tics. Connor tic: barking like a dog.

Connor does have a handful of friends, but his attitude and emotions are hard on their relationship. When Connor finds himself under a peer’s radar, everyone around him is fair game, when the pressure gets too much. It takes time, patience, love, and understanding for Connor to finally put the pieces all together. The pieces that he had within himself, the whole time.

I felt for Connor on page one of this book. He wanted to be a normal child doing normal things yet here he was barking and letting his emotions get the best of him. His friends try to include him and yet, Connor can’t let go how much he is different from everyone else. Connor puts his own mark on his back while those that really like him, see Connor for Connor. I liked it when Connor started to unwrap the layers that had trapped him inside himself, and he allowed others in, and he allowed himself to be open. His family and friends finally get to see the real Connor then. Another fantastic book by Dusti Bowling !!

Dust by Alison Stine

5 stars YA

What if you lived your life without ______ every word that was spoken to ______? It’d be hard to fully engage _____ with others, as you’d have to either _____ what they said or just not ____ yourself in their conversation. Thea’s parents knew about her deafness, yet they did nothing to improve her situation. They had taught Thea to hide her impairment from others and so she had, missing out on bits and pieces of her life.

It’s her father’s rules that lands the family in the dust bowl. Her father saw opportunity, but did he really see the whole picture. It’s all around them……despair and dust. Every morning, the floor is coated before they give it a good sweep and the sandy pieces fall into every dish and surface, swallowing up their little house. Father wants them off the grid, he wants the family to be self-sufficient, but mother-earth has other plans. Experiencing her first dust storm, Thea becomes concerned with their new life and their future. Being isolated now, I liked how Thea began to take an active role in something, and she finally has something to focus on.

With money being tight, her father allows Thea and her mother to work outside the home. Thea’s boss sees a great opportunity and Thea meets Ray. Ray is a volunteer at the library, a wonderful guy, and is hearing impaired. To think that in this little dessert town, in the middle of nowhere, she meets someone like herself, Thea is thrilled! Thea begins helping Ray and Sam as they help others in the community. Thea just shines, as she finally starts breaking out of her shell with the help of Ray until her father gets wind of what Thea has been up to.

“My dads anger stuck to us, like dirt that would never wash off.”

I enjoyed the character of Thea as she grew inside the pages of this book. Her father tried to squash her; to mold her to his liking but she saw life outside his vision and wanted more. How can she have the best of both worlds: her family and the friends for which she has craved for her entire life? 5 stars

Tree. Table. Book. by Lois Lowry

5 stars Middle School Realistic Fiction

Writing a story is making spaghetti sauce, according to Sophie. When I read this, I knew this was going to be a story for me. Sophie Henry Winslow is eleven and her best friend is seven times as old as she is. Sophie Gershowitz, 77, is Sophie’s next-door neighbor and best friend. There’s neighbor Ralphie who lives across the street from the pair, and he goes to school with Sophie W.

I like the closeness that Sophie W. has with her friends. Ralphie and Sophie W. are close friends, yet Sophie W. says Sophie G. is her best friend. Ralphie helps Sophie W. stay grounded and since they’re the same age, they have more things in common. Sophie W. and Sophie G. share a unique bond. They’re close but I think their friendship is constructed with more maturity and compassion. These relationships are important for Sophie since her relationships at school have vanished away.

When Sophie G.’s son comes for a visit, Sophie W. discovers that it’s not just a social visit. Sophie W. hears talk that Sophie’s problem is getting worse and that he’ll be taking her to see the doctor. Sophie G. doesn’t understand what problem Sophie G. has but she knows she must do something. Sophie G. is too important for something to happen to her but what can she do?

Having a mother with dementia, I understood exactly what Sophie W. was trying to do when she talked to her parents and when she consulted the Merck. Sophie W. was determined to help her best friend and the feelings that she was having as she struggled to come to terms with the results were spot-on. Her emotions pulled at my heart as she felt powerless and small when reality started to sink in. So, Tree. Table. Book. Yup, this book hit home. I’m a huge Lois Lowry fan (The Giver is my favorite) and I felt that she created this book just for me. Thanks Lois! 5 stars ++

“Begin on the day that is different” – start your story with this day an author suggested, yet Sophie points out every day is different 😊

“And I think that learning from each other is one of the most important parts of friendship.”

A Perfect Mistake by Melanie Conklin

5 stars Mystery YA/Children’s

Let’s unravel this mystery together. Where it all begins, we don’t know but we know that it ends with Will, lying in the hospital, in a coma. How he got from A to B they don’t really know, but the fingers keep pointing at Max for the answers. Eleven-year-old Max. Max, the boy who has just recently been diagnosed with ADHD. Max, the child who because of his height looks older than any other kid his age. Max, the child who wishes that they’d never left the house that night. Max, the best friend, realizes that if he doesn’t remember what happened that night, they may never know what happened to his best friend.

I enjoyed unraveling the mystery of what happened that night. It was more than just solving Will’s medical condition(s) as Max is facing some tough issues himself. The characters felt credible and natural, which is one of the qualities I like about Melanie’s books. I was mad with Max when I read that he wouldn’t visit Will in the hospital when he was first admitted. Yet, the more I read about Max, the more I understood why. I thought Max’s friendship with Sam was needed to bring everyone together. Friendship, medical conditions, accountability, and trust were the main issues I thought this book addressed. I enjoyed this book and look forward to more books by Melanie Conklin. 5 stars

Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest

4 stars YA

She lied in shadows and allowed everyone, the ability to “do” for her. She had a voice, she was capable to do things, she just didn’t. It was now her senior year in high school and this was it. Her friends would be going off to different colleges next year and Effie, she hoped to go off to college too. A college in New York City if she had her choice but that would mean she’d have to speak up.

As Effie enters her senior year, she discovers that she no longer has her second locker at school. Not a problem with most students but Effie has cerebral palsy and she needs the two strategically-placed lockers, to help maneuver sufficiently during the day. Mom decides that Effie needs to figure this issue out on her own so she relinquishes the control button and Effie is on her own to acquire and acquire back her second locker. I had to wonder how many times Effie was allowed to take control of her own matters and who decided when she could? Effie was now a senior and this was the kind of tasks that she was responsible for: a locker. How is she even going to make it in college, on her own, if these are the types of decisions she is only allowed to make?

Effie makes small steps in this book and with each step, you have to cheer her on. When she starts to a relationship with Wilder, I cringed as I didn’t want Effie to get hurt. I thought the worse of Wilder. I thought Wilder was using her. I thought Effie was a part of one of Wilder’s dares or schemes. I didn’t want Effie to fall for Wilder and have him laughing behind her back. She was an innocent and wholesome individual and I didn’t want her to be walked on. Would she be able to find her voice, if she needed it? When her high school opened up lunch period to the seniors, I cringed when she started to accept their explanation and excuses. She voiced her concern but she wasn’t loud enough. She wasn’t being heard. As they talk about college visits, Effie hesitates about mentioning the college in N.Y.C. She’s thought about the obstacles she’ll have to face in the big city, she thought about the travel time, heck……Effie has thought through this decision so many times yet she needs to go and do a college visit to see for herself what it would actually be like.

It’s a good book about finding your voice, about stepping outside the box and testing the waters. Effie could go about life and take the easy path, the safe path or Effie can speak up and make a difference for herself and other. 4 stars

All He Knew by Helen Frost

I started to get all frustrated and concerned as I began reading this book. I felt so helpless as I read about Henry. He had begun his life alone and misunderstood. The label they slapped on him, became a wall. I felt some relief that Molly had never forgotten her brother, although he wasn’t living with her. She loved him whether he was physically present or not. The author’s creative way of expressing this factual event makes this a very powerful story.

Henry was four when he becomes deaf after falling ill. They had hoped that Henry could get his education at the State School for the Deaf. Needing to pass a test, Henry arrives for the test but he is unable to understand the tests’ directions. Failing the test, he can’t attend the state school and they label Henry, “unteachable.” With WWII on the horizon, they soon decide to place him in Riverview, a school for mentally disabled individuals. Talk about sad! Little time and effort are spent on the patients and Henry sinks further down. If I could just reach into this book and grab him out, I and I think plenty other readers would have.

As I read Henry’s thoughts, his hopes and his sadness, it’s beyond sad. I’m wondering how the other patients feel about life in Riverview. Molly is the only bright spot until I hear Victor’s footsteps mark the halls of Riverview. Is Victor a real person or is he an angel? Where did he come from? It’s sad to think that, finally one professional, seems to care.

With short chapters, this true event story is a story that will definitely make your think. Told through verse, it’s a fast read about this time period in history.

I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott

The author wrote this book based on his own personal experience with stuttering. I liked the honesty and the emotions that the author shared in this book. As I read the author’s note at the back of the book, he explains in-depth, his own personal experience which made this book more enjoyable.

It’s not like he doesn’t know what to say, he has the words, they’re just stuck inside his head. Sitting inside his classroom, he’d rather participate quietly but when his teacher calls on him, every head in the room turns and looks at him, just waiting to see what he’ll say. He’s been in this spotlight before and no one understands. This isn’t the place he wants to be. A phone call later, his dad picks him up and the situation has been diverted for now.

Wow, this is so sad. This really frustrated me on many levels. I was glad that his father was there for him and that he cared a great deal for him. I’m glad that he was able to gather strength from the words from his father and from the river.

I think many children will enjoy this book as they relate to this story and/or gain strength/knowledge from his example. 4 stars