1 comments about The Thought that Counts: A Firsthand Account of One Teenager's Experience with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

1. Jared Kant's powerful, candid account of growing up with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is riveting, sometimes heartbreaking, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Adolescents struggling with OCD will find compassion and encouragement here, as well as practical, accurate information about how to get better with the right kind of treatment. An excellent book for teachers, parents, professionals - for anyone who wants to understand this potentially devastating but treatable neurobiological disorder.

5 comments about Saving Adam.

1. I grew up with L. Smith and Adam's family-they went to my church. I remember Adam and the amazing changes in him when he was taken in and mothered by this extraordinary women. Her funeral was the first I ever went to and it sticks in my mind to this day. All who knew her felt the loss. Adam was truly a lucky young man to have been loved this way. I haven't read the book but plan to buy it and read it soon.



2. I couldnt' put it down!! I mean, it is a very short book. About 60 pages or so, but it was wonderful. I read it in an hour.
   I think that every foster parent should read this. I only wish there were more details about his childhood before he got sent to the Smith's. I liked that it had a happy ending and that Adam found success in his life after what he had been through.
   Read this book. It's a must!!!



3. Saving Adam was a book that can be enjoyed for the purity of human love it provides for the reader. When one is looking for the "perfect" family situation to put a child into, they don't always find what is considered "normal" for everyone. Adam thrived because he was loved, accepted and given the opportunity to grow with his family. Biology doesn't insure that a child will be loved and taken proper care of. I laughed, I cried, I loved every word of Adam's story. It is sad only that he has to wait to be reunited with his Mom in Heaven. They had such little time together, but it was quality. Who could ask for more from a parent/child relationship? I recommend this book to anyone that needs to be reminded how lucky we are to have the loving families that we do and to never take advantage of the love we are given so freely by our families.



4. "Saving Adam" by L. Smith is one evening's read that will stay with you. Told primarily from the viewpoint of a woman for whom perseverance and faith are bywords, I was inspired to read it through to the end in one sitting.

   A tad short on some of the writing skills we are accustomed to finding in memoirs, this story works for me. It is told with humor, the language is spare and the protagonist is a woman in charge of her own destiny. It also does not preach. It simply tells the story of a woman who loves and, in doing so, affects the lives of those around her.

   One of the other reviewers mentioned that this book should be turned into a movie. Darn right! The central character is any novelist's or screenwriter's dream.

   "Saving Adam" is, in short, a poem to the universe without a single poetic phrase between its covers.

   Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"




5. If you liked "The Christmas Box", you'll LOVE "Saving Adam"! If you were unimpressed with "The Christmas Box", you'll be VERY impressed with "Saving Adam"! It also contains elements comparable to "A Child Called 'It'" by Dave Pelzer and the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. I've never before seen a book written so masterfully as to contain no places, no dates, no times, no names (other than "Adam") and done successfully. It's hard to tell whether this story is about the boy or the mother. What is clear is that one miracle after another adds up to one miraculous, true story that no one should do without! This book should be mandatory reading for anyone who works with children!

4 comments about Body, Remember: A Memoir (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiographies).

1. This book started out reading like poetry--but as I read I got lost in the muddle that was the life of the author. I really thought this book would be good--but I couldn't bring myself to finish it. As I read further I remember that I had begun this book some time ago and didn't finish it then either. BAH!



2. Fries, Kenny, "Body, Remember: A Memoir", University of Wisconsin Press, 1997, 2003.
   
   A Moving Memoir
   
   Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
   
   Kenny Fries in "Body, Remember" has written a memoir that moves one to tears As we embark on a journey from sympathy to admiration, we read a book without a false note in it. When Fries wrote his memoir he was 36 years old and a noted poet, an essayist, and a critic. He writes what it is like to be disabled--he was born with two malformed legs as a result of a congenital birth defect and he endured many operations to correct. There is no "pity me" in his memoir--he uses honesty and even allows those he is or has been at odds with to maintain their dignity. With extreme patience Fries looks back on his life and explores family documents, medical records and memory (his own and his parents') to try to understand how he got to be where he is. He discovers that the details of his early life were unspoken but he was able to map out his sexual identity and sexual desire. As he comes to terms with himself, he also writes about what it is like to be different.
   Fries is a man very concerned with identity.
   Being gay and Jewish help him form a self image and as a person with a defect, he uses his memoir to help discover who he is. It is his disability that rules his life and it cannot be ignored as the most important facet of his life--in fact, it claims most of his attention. He has a complex self image, especially regarding his gayness by which his disability is not a part. He explores where he stands in terms of his religion concerning his homosexuality. These three personas--disabled, gay, and Jewish are the issues that concern him most and he reaches no conclusion--at least none that I could see. He seems to be able to balance the three. This lack of perspective is the only fault I can find with otherwise a beautifully written memoir.
   The beauty of the writing is the way that Fries interweaves memories and fragments from his life. It is almost hard to read when he writes of his brother who abused him both sexually and physically. Likewise his meetings with men in Israel and his ill-fated relationships with two other men are sad and heart-rending. He finally, after the publication of his poetry and years of psychotherapy, manages to achieve happiness with another man, Kevin, with whom he is still partnered.
   Fries wars scars on his body and on his mind and his self awareness of his physical deformity is examined in great detail. The book is deeply personal and is not a history but a memoir. He takes us on a journey from the shallow end of life where he could barely use his own legs to where he is able to achieve a rich and happy life.
   As I read, I thought how lucky I was that I only had to endure two of Fries problems--being Jewish and being gay. I can't imagine how much a physical disability can even make life that much harder.



3. Not a false note in this book. Takes the reader on a journey from sympathy to admiration. Helped me face some lesser challenges.



4. Kenny Fries says what he needs to without being dramatic and there is no subtle "pity me" to his memoir. He is honest without being brutal and allows those with whom he retains differences to maintain their dignity. He helped me to view my own disability as an opportunity and for this I am grateful.

5 comments about Cockeyed.

1. This is an engaging memoir of an intelligent, articulate man who happens to be blind. As a teenager, the author developed the degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, which slowly robbed him of his sight. He was about fourteen or so, when a portent of what lay in store for him visually began making itself manifest. He ignored the signs of his increasing visual challenges and even learned to drive a car, which he drove until it became clear that he was a danger on the road to himself and others. Some time would go by before he and his family would know what lay behind the author's seeming inability to see what was in front of him. When he discovered the reason, he would remain in denial for some time, stumbling about in a sighted world without the sight he needed to do so safely.
   
   Eventually overcoming his reluctance to admit that, yes, he was going blind, he decided to adopt the use of a cane rather than a guide dog. With stick in hand, he moves about the world in a way that most of us would rather not. Yet, for all that he is blind, he sees the world around him in ways in which many sighted people fail to do. His observations are witty, funny, and irreverent, as he takes measure of his life and some of the indignities that blindness has imposed upon him. The author takes the reader on an unsentimental journey through his descent into blindness, only for the reader to discover just how interesting that journey is. The reader comes away thinking of the author not as a blind man but, rather, as a man who happens to be blind.



2. Knighton did a fantastic job taking you into his journey of losing his sight. There were times when I felt terrible for him, but then there were also times when I laughed out loud!! There were scenes that did seem to drag on at times, but overall, a wonderful read. I will be looking for his next book!



3. Of course this book is inspirational, but to view this memoir as another tale of overcoming obstacles is selling it short. If you take away the subject matter, and judge the writing itself--you'll find an extraordinarily well-written, incredibly witty, and extremely funny book from a writer that has a gift for story telling. Ryan Knighton's intelligence leaps off the page and engages the reader in thought-provoking discussions. He managed to make me laugh out loud as well as cry, and to effectively do both is no easy task. His introspection and fresh, intelligent take on blindness and its effect on his life (and those around him) is insightful and profound. I look forward to reading his next book, regardless of the topic, because I so enjoyed his writing style. His students are learning from a master.



4. I really did love this book and here's why: It's got life, depth, sparkle, sensitivity, honesty, humor, and the ability to educate me on the interesting life he's led. I laughed when Ryan was talking about how people shouldn't worry so much about the "sighted words" in language. He's got a way with words, which includes making the reader FEEL (and yes, SEE) things, not just read them. Ryan's imagery is colorful and clear, from the beginning when he's working his first summer job and itching to drive the forklift, to the end when he's trying to remember details of a favorite photograph. In between, we learn what it was like for Ryan to drive a car (briefly), date, study, use a walking stick (and adjust to it), teach, get robbed (almost), and deal with his going blind during it all - it's quite a read I'd recommend.



5. I really wanted to like this book. Some of the descriptions of the narrator's increasingly challenging interactions with the world are wonderful. After reading it, I can well imagine what it feels like to be in a noisy club when you can barely see, or what it's like to navigate a stariway with only a cane for guidance. Even the relationship challenges are interesting and (to me) unprecedented.
   
   But sometimes there is just too much of a good thing. The in-depth narration gets tiring when it strays to non-pertinent events like teaching overseas. There are some good anecdotes, but they break up the stark reality of the growing handicap.
   
   Is it right to only give 3 stars to a book about blindness? Probably not. The author is great! I'll buy his next book for sure. But this one just didn't "get" me.

4 comments about Silent Storm: Finding Spiritual Shelter During Hepatitis C.

1. Silent Storm is the perfect title for a book about Hepatitis C. Not only is Hepatitis C quickly spreading throughout the world, it is a disease we do not talk about openly. Two men who are not swayed by societal stigma are Mark Prater and Chris Carden. These authors openly tell the story of one family's journey through this devastating illness and describe the emotional side effects that are caused by its treatment. While this subject matter could have been too painful to read, the authors' focus on the blessings of family and friends, as well as, the family's ultimate faith in God make Silent Storm an informative and truly inspiring tale.
   
   There is something about sharing a common experience with another person that somehow brings comfort, peace and the feeling that you are not alone. I read Silent Storm a month after my husband finished his treatment for Hepatitis C. Reading about the experiences of Mark and Carol Prater helped me begin my own healing process. Right now, my 13-year-old daughter is reading the book. My 15-year-old son will read it next. I thought that reading about how another family dealt with the situation would be helpful, especially the explanations about the changes in personality that occur during treatment. It was difficult for our teenagers to understand and accept the drastic differences in their father. Their heads understood that the changes in his personality were due to the medication, but their tender hearts could not help but to be hurt. Silent Storm may allow them to separate the side effects of the treatment from the man that continues to be their father.
   
   I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has a family member, friend or co-worker with Hepatitis C. The story told will help readers understand that the negative side effects they see are not a reflection of the person they know and love. They are a reflection of a person struggling to be what they once were. Silent Storm shows us all that the struggle is worth fighting and that it is only through patience, love, and faith does one reach that goal.



2. Silent Storm takes you on a journey into the world of a Christian, who through no fault of his own, contracted and literally "fought" Hepatitis C. It expels myths about the disease and provides much needed facts. The language used makes it an easy read while it's fast pace and descriptive language holds your undivided attention. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It helped me understand how widespread Hepatitis C is, as well as, how it can be prevented and treated. Since drug usage and sexual activity may begin at an early age, this book can be used at the elementary school level yet it is not so simple as to "turn off" the highly educated. It could be used in an English class, a health class, a Sunday School class or with a youth group. It has the makeup of a good film and would be very helpful in educating incarcerated offenders. As Mark Prater undergoes diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, as the reader I felt as if I was experiencing what he and his family were going through. As he experienced depression and struck out at his family, I knew in my heart that they were able to remain accepting and loving because they loved him with the agape love of God. It was heart wrenching when Mark was ready to give up only one month short of completing his treatment. This demonstrates the ghastly effects of this disease and the treatment. I found myself on an emotional roller coaster as I traveled through this journey with Mark Prater and his family. The end of the book contains questions and answers involving Mark's doctors, which are very "down to earth" and enlightening. This was a real eye opener for me. Because of the treatment involved it also helped me better understand the health issues of individuals undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. I will never think of a Hepatitis C or cancer patient the same again. Finally, once again through this book, I came to realize how blessed I am. I can't stop talking about this book and cannot give it enough accolades. In fact, I have bought several copies for gifts. This is a must read!!!



3. This is an important book for anyone battling Hepatitis. Mark's story is fascinating. You truly feel the emotional and psychological turmoil that Mark, his wife, his children, family and friends felt. Mark's insights into the world of television news and the interplay between battling a chronic disease and remaining in the public eye are inspiring. His faith and devout spirituality along with his sheer willpower to overcome send an important message to anyone battling Hepatitis or any other chronic disease.



4. Being able to watch and listen to Mark Prater on a daily basis thru TV and radio and getting to listen to a update from day one of the announcement of his disease to current, the book gives so much more detail of what his family, friends and co-workers went thru with him to aid in the healing of his body. This book will open your eyes and take you behind the man who we see with a bright smile and laugh to struggle with the treatments to overcome Hepatitis C. May God continue to Bless you Mark, Carol and family.

5 comments about Secret Girl.

1. This book was one of the best books I've read in a long time. It makes you want to count your blessings more often. The author is so honest and true to herself, she doesn't mince words with her feelings, even if it doesn't put her in the most favorable light. It makes you try and imagine what it would have been like if you had no family on Christmas, or your birthday, or to be institutionalized your whole life-how you would never really know what you were missing because you never got to experience it in the first place. Anyone who is ever feeling sorry for themselves or not appreciative of what they have in life, needs to read this book!



2. but it really wasn't. The cover and the subject of the memoir caught my interest..but it really wasn't worth my time to read it. Only a couple parts kept my interest long enough to keep reading. I thought the book completely lost momentum at the end.



3. I got through this book in 24 hrs, but can't say i will pass it on to any friends....its an interesting story but lacks the juice i wanted.



4. I thought this book a truly honest look at this Authors Cathartic experience through a life of unforgivable misfortunes. A truly sad story but I was glad that I read it. This book is a must read for anyone that has ever given birth to a child. This book more than anything was a window into the parenting choices that are made.



5. I picked up this book at the library, hoping for a good story, with some hope for the family involved. Instead I was treated to a self-absorbed writers account of her fight with alcoholism and little of her relationship with her sister.
   I work in a group home setting, and often see families who are not involved, for various reasons. I hoped this book would give me some insight. But it didn't. It offered cliches and explored the rest of the family's surface reactions only. I was disappointed to see that Anne was once more abandoned at the end, when she needed family desperately. The story offered within this book only served to reinforce why I work where I do and why what I am doing is important.

5 comments about A Nearly Normal Life: A Memoir.

1. I think if the author hadn't written his memoir in such a vain way--it would have been better??



2. In 1953, when he was a robust 14-year-old, Charles L. Mee was stricken with viral polio. This memoir describes his struggle with polio, and also comments on the treatments (sometimes horrific) that were tried to beat this virus that, in 1953 alone, struck over 50,000 people. His struggle was not an easy one, and his later life wasn't either, but he comes to terms with his limitations, becoming a successful historian and playright. It's a real eye-opener, and he doesn't mince words, which makes for a compelling read.



3. For those interested in understanding the impact of polio, this is the definitive source. No one tells the story like Charles Mee. The depth of his insights are stunning. He makes a powerful comment on the human condition. This book is a MUST READ.



4. From long experience with this area, Mee's accounts both of the era of his youth and the experiences of polio ring very true from the pen of an accomplished writer. One senses that Mee never really made peace with his disability and its impact, inasmuch as he was able to evade, compensate, head into intellectual endeavors, etc., so there are many polio/disability issues not well dealt with here. (Significantly it ends with his finding an oasis in the intellectual world of the Ivy League and the intellect.) However, one has to suspect that the decision to tell the story, with insight and honesty, may represent at long last a step in addressing what he may have hoped at one time to simply "leave behind." Perhaps there will be a sequel in which his historical training and writing skills are again focused on the complex interrelationships between disability, psyche and society. This is a good read, though, even if it is not the full story.



5. I don't write many reviews anymore, who has time? However, this book stood out so much above the rest I've read lately that I just had to share. The book is about a polio survivor, the 50's, the discovery of the vaccine and oh so much more. It's about living the life you were handed, not the want you thought you were going to get.

   His epilogue is pure poetry. An example: "Life continues to change. New things surface; old wounds hidden by bigger wounds show up when the bigger wounds are healed; new clusters of misgivings and confusion take shape to replace old clusters of exhausted adjustments. New things come along to be accepted with grace and peace. The disability and its challenges continue to evolve, and one must achieve acceptance and grace and peace again and again, day after day."

   I highly recommend this book to everyone. I read about 5 books a week and this book is in my top 20 of all time.

1 comments about Lessons in Laughter.

1. A book that is difficult to put down. Follows the life of an amazing actor who just happens to be Deaf. His battles & his loves. Giving a look at how society looks at the Deaf community & how the Deaf look at themselves & society.

5 comments about Where the Roots Reach for Water: A Personal and Natural History of Melancholia.

1. This book is excellently written - lucid and engrossing. The history and culture of melancholia are well-researched and fascinating. The descriptions of depressive episodes resonate deeply and are not overwrought. The story here will certainly change the way you look at depression. It may even help some sufferers find a certain amount of peace in simply learning to stop fighting depression and learning instead to work with it. However, despite the author's occasional warnings, I worry that this book alone might actually lead some people away from overcoming depression or realizing their full potential for a life free of affliction. I would strongly recommend that Smith's book be read in conjunction with others that draw on more recent developments in neuroscience and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy such as The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness (purchase includes audio CD narrated by Jon Kabat-Zinn) or Sharon Begley's Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves



2. Like many sufferers from depression in my experience, the author reached a point where his medication abruptly quit working. Others did not produce the desired result of the first, and instead of continuing playing med roulette, Smith stopped his and began the examination of his disorder that is recorded here. The author has no personal vendetta against the Western therapeutic institution, nor does he spend much time lingering on the disappointment of having the meds fail him. Instead, he takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of mood disorders from familial, historical, literary, and Eastern angles, to name a few.

   He also describes what he learned from the mental health clients he works with, as well as his girlfriend. Smith does not shy away from describing several incidents that do not put him in the best light, and this paradoxically made me like him as narrator more.

   Although some authors of depression memoirs have explored their moods from a historic or literary viewpoint, this one is the first I have read that weaves it into the narrative so richly.




3. AS a psychologist who works with truly treatment-resistant depressives who have had abusive childhoods or horrible adulthoods, as an educator of psychology grad students, and as a person who has suffered from lifelong clinical depression, I plunged into this book as hungrily as the roots of the title. The writing is terrific. The scholarship on the "natural history" of psychology, the philosophy and history of the disease is terrific, and I learned a few things that I didn't know, even though I have taught history and systems of psychology. The descriptions of episodes of depression ring true.

   But in the end the book disappointed me. Smith included bipolar disorder as well as unipolar clinical depression in his discussion of various aspects of melancholia, without noting that there are significant major differences between the two. While claiming to have "treatment resistant" depression, Smith showed his depression was really existential and situational after all, not truly biochemical and treatment resistant; the fact that it went away when he found the love of a good woman, found religion, and returned to his true home, shows that his depression was his heart's yearning for meaning and home, not his neurotransmitter receptors crying for the right dosage of biochemicals. For truly treatment-resistant depressives, even finding home, God and love can't keep the darkness away for long, and the ending of his book seemed too pat, too Hollywood simplistic to me.

   Although I hope he is really cured of his depression, if Smith writes another book in a few years about how his melancholia returned in spite of finding home, love and God, then I think he does really have treatment-resistant depression. In the meantime, this book about a man who grew up surrounded by love, who had a happy childhood in a wonderful environment, had a good education and lots of choices, who chose to move away from that original home, and chose to work at jobs that were meaningful but supposedly "lower" than he was capable of, shows that even excellent drugs cannot overcome choices we make that do not meet our deepest needs. In cases like his, the optimum treatment for depression is to answer the heart's callings and make the right choices, not expect drugs to fix us. I don't think this book makes that point clearly enough - almost, but not quite.




4. I think this has been one of the touching books I have ever read. My friend of 4 years just drifted away from me in his own bout of depression. The storm rolled in quickly and slowly. I don't know how to explain it, and he doesn't either.
   Jeffery's book helped me to understand. And for that I am forever grateful. I pray that he comes through the other side.
   Touching, saddening, inspiring. You must read this if someone you love is going through this.
   I would love to thank the author. Maybe he will check these comments.
   
   UPDATE... I went to a chiropractor for the first time this year for other reasons. I had been going through what I thought must have been Seasonal Affective Disorder because it was winter. Kind of blue and crying for about two weeks. He adjusted my neck, euphoric rush and never felt that way since. Your happy hormones can get pinched off...



5. As a depressive who has been on antidepressants for four years, I felt it was time to begin researching about this condition. I read at least a half dozen books, such as William Styron's memoirs, Richard O'Connor's self-help book, Joseph Glenmullen's anti-drug "Prozac Backlash," Kathy Kronkite's collection of conversations with famous depressives, and Andrew Solomon's excellent and comprehensive work "Noonday Demon." Jeffery Smith's book, "Where the Roots Reach for Water," is by far my favorite.

   Weaving the history of melancholia with intimate personal narrative and rapturous nature writing, Smith constructs a rich landscape of depression. Fascinating even for those who do not suffer from the disease, the book is -- if you will excuse the word -- inspirational for those who do suffer from depression. Since antidepressant drugs do not work for Smith, he has to find a way to accomodate depression into his life.

   "What does your depression want from you?" his therapist asks. Your depression isn't going anywhere. Even if you are currently in remission, it's likely to recur. So what does it want from you -- what do you need to do in order to live with it?

   This question is profound, and Smith doesn't answer right away. Nor does he give a how-to list of steps to take to overcome depression. Indeed, the point of the book is that depression isn't something to be overcome, because that task may prove to be impossible. It is something you learn how to cope with, and even how to live your life fully and joyfully despite -- or perhaps in concert with -- your depression.

   Who would want to read this book? Nature lovers will delight in the beautiful and sometimes surprising descriptions of landscapes. Historians who are interested in the evolution of "melancholia" into "depression" will find a very readable and entertaining overview. And anyone looking for insight into the experience of depression will find both a historical and a personal, individual perspective on the condition.

5 comments about Count Us In: Growing Up with Down Syndrome.

1. I've never read a book by people with Down Syndrome before, and haven't gotten to meet many people with Down Syndrome either, so it was a real pleasure to get to meet and understand what these two young men are thinking and feeling on a variety of topics from having Down Syndrome, school and interacting with others, what their dreams are for their future, how they feel about women, marriage, and children, etc.
   
   It was a hard book to sit down and read front to back because the book was structured as a series of quotes from both boys or conversations between them and their family members, and also because the way they phrase things is different from what I am used to, so I instead enjoyed reading a few chapters a day.
   
   I was a little taken aback at some of Jason's attitudes towards women at that time, but I appreciate that he was a high school student at that time and may have matured in his viewpoints since then - I know I am very different from when I was a high-schooler! People with strong religious convictions may prefer to read this book before handing it off to their teen with DS, since the views are largely secular.
   
   This was a valuable and unique look inside the heads of two strong young men who are working hard to be accepted and beloved contributors to society, and I am so glad they wrote this book to share their thoughts with us.



2. I read this book when my son was just a baby, and I was still full of misconceptions and misunderstandings about Down syndrome. The story of these two young men, told in their own words, did more to help me begin to envision a life full of hope and potential for my baby than any other book I'd read. I want to thank them for helping me learn, and grow as a person, and be a better mother to my own son.



3. i think this book should go to individuals to learn about issues that might be dealing with. these two advocates have learned a lot and how their parents has taught them i think i definitively recommend this book to go to many libraries and bookstores so that other men can learn how to do things on their own just like any other men. i am a women and i have down syndrome to i have read this it made me realize that having down syndrome is a celebration



4. I read this when my son was a baby and the book was new. I couldn't relate to ANYTHING about these boys lives. As a woman, I just couldn't relate to their male view of the world. We did not share any interests either. This book might be more appreciated by an adult male relative, professional, or family friend, but I wouldn't recommend it for a teen. It is nice that these two boys with DS are so capable, but their book would be more interesting for someone that shared their viewpoint and/or interests. If you are a woman, read something more uplifting.



5. This is a book written in their own words by two young men who have Down's Syndrome. They share the ups and down's of their lives . Although my son is only nine, I found this book very helpful because it gave me some preview of things to come. Because the book was written in the boys' own words, it gives a unique picture into the minds and lives of older children with Down syndrome. It also gave some insight into familiar problems, as well as some events that were unique to these boys who authored the book. I found myself wishing that my own son had a close friend to help guide him through the ups and downs that await him in his teenage years. Then I realised that I could actively seek out peers for him to become friendly with at my local Down syndrome chapter, and maybe I could find some friends that he could become close with in a similar fashion to the authors of this book. I highly recommend this book to all parents, caregivers, teachers and other professionals who work with children who have disabliities similar to Down Syndrome, because the experiences of these boys could cover a broad spectrum of disabilities, not only Down Syndrome. So many books are written from an outsider's prespective. This book comes straight from the sourcel.