No comments about Threading the Snail: My Journey Through Deafness.

No comments about Journey Out of Silence.

No comments about The Quarterback Who Almost Wasn't.

5 comments about Speak to Me: Grief, Love and What Endures.

1. To face your fears, to really dig down deep and write from the heart, is the biggest challenge for any writer. Marcie Hershman more than scales a mountain in SPEAK TO ME. This book is smart and serious yet it ends with such hope and joy, I was sad to put it down. Bravo! A beautiful tribute and memoir.



2. Marcie Hershman's Speak to Me is simply one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. On one level this is "about" the death of a beloved sibling; on its other levels, it engages us in the power of the human voice to speak in so many ways about love -- the love that moves us out of grief and into a richer sense of our lives. That we might hear again our loved one's voice in dreams, or "play" that voice again on audio tape, or have it echo again in memory, and that there are mysteries, too--voice after death--all these aspects of our connection to each other Marcie Hershman reminded me of. She has wit, wisdom and an honesty that reveals the heart of the matter. Her ten meditations, so gorgeously written, and so deeply felt, told me not only about the special bond she and her brother Rob shared, but of the bond I too have felt with family members I have lost. There are so many voices I still long to hear. I am extraordinarily glad to have read Speak to Me. I urge others to read it and share it. This is beautiful, heart-stirring work!



3. I read Marcie Hershman's book to give me insight on grief and mourning. Although the topic of voice is intriguing & often neglected, I found the writing to be very dry and difficult to read. The book is brief (100 pages) but for me, I found it hard be propelled forward with detailed descriptions of metaphysical topics. It was excrutiatingly dull for me to complete this short book.



4. Not many books deal with the loss of a sibling and how the death of a brother or sister changes the way you see the world. I found this book extremely helpful to me, although I did not lose a brother, but my husband of sixteen years. Once I started reading, I couldn't put this book down. I started in the afternoon and kept reading through the night. I felt like I was having a heart to heart talk with a good friend. I was happy by how different it was from the usual "how to get over grief" type of book, full of rules and advice. Highly recommended.



5. My brother died almost three years ago, but it took me almost two years of Marcie Hershman's book sitting on my bedside table to get up the courage to read more than a few pages now and then. I finally finished the whole thing today, in one sitting, and am sorry now that I waited. It has been cathartic, enabling me to mourn and to cry in a way that I couldn't before. Her book is full of gentleness, love and writing that flows straight from her pen into our heart. In "Speak to Me" she crosses over boundaries and in between worlds as if they are water. Dreams, spiritual thought, a sometimes complicated childhood and the here and now of her brother Rob's TV producing - she does not limit herself because the story is not one of limits, but of expansion. She has touched a chord that those of us who have lost somebody can identify with. There are many of us who have probably heard the voices, and dreampt dreams about loved ones who are gone. Marcie Hershman, who writes so lovingly about her brother's voice, is, in fact, OUR collective voice to the world.

No comments about Last in My Class: How Humor Helped Me Survive Alcoholism.

3 comments about Emma And I (Isis).

1. Sheila Hocken shares her life with us in this biography which highlights both her experiences using a seeing-eye dog for the blind; then having her vision restored later in life.

   I suppose you would have to have been blind to appreciate the intensity of the moment when her sight is restored. How do you describe light and colors for the first time? Thank you, Sheila, for sharing this experience with us, the readers. Waiting to hear the rest of your life story. (Hardcover has photos).




2. A moving life story of a blind woman and her incredible guide dog Emma. This book is a rollercoaster of deep emotions that Shela feels for Emma and life they lead together, and makes us , readers, feel it too. What can I say...This is the best book I have read in the last ten years.One of those that you just can't put down, one of those that you keep in your home library and read over and over again...However,once you've read this, you'll want to read the sequels too, which are just as good...

   Enjoy !




3. Usually you hear of people's experience loosing their sight. Now I have an idea of what it's like to have sight after a lifetime of blindness. This book gave me a whole new respect for blind people, guide dogs, and sight itself. Thanks Sheila Hocken!

No comments about Because of Love.

No comments about One Moment at a Time: A Love Story.

3 comments about A Forever Family.

1. As an adoptions professional I am continually searching for books that reflect the experience of children who are adopted after they have been removed from birth parents. Many of these children are between the ages of six and ten when adopted. Kids I have shared this book with have not wanted to give it back. It is a very useful tool in helping children understand adoption. Jennifer's journey from instability to having a forever family is not sugar coated but presents what is true for the majority of adopted children. I am very disappointed that it is out of print. I think this is a great loss for our kids.



2. This story is perfect for children who were adopted, particularly those adopted at an older age. The simple text is accompanied by photographs of the co-author, Jenny Jordan-Wong, who was adopted in the early 1990s at the age of eight.

   Her life with her Mom and Dad, an inter-racial couple, is normal and loving in every way. Jenny plays and runs and reads like other kids. (She especially likes Nany Drew.) She takes piano lessons and plays Hula Hoop.

   But she is different from other friends who want to know what it was like to be adopted. She explains that her biological parents had a lot of problems and could not take care of her. So when she was three, she moved to a foster family, a temporary family who "take care of you until you are adopted." Of course, Jenny knows that not everyone gets adopted.

   Jenny has pictures of her second foster Mom and Dad, who took her in when she was 6. She still visits them, as she does the social workers who helped find her parents.

   "It was scary meeting my new mom and dad," she writes. But after visiting on several weekends with her family, "We knew we wanted to be a family. They wanted to adopt me and I wanted to live with them. We would become a forever family."

   The story also includes photos of the court session which made the adoption final and of Jenny's extended family--aunts, uncles, cousins, and her friends.

   This book helps kids realize that others have been through the same thing, that new things take some getting used to, and that questions are okay. Alyssa A. Lappen




3. There is such a need for books that are applicable to families that adopt children beyond infancy. It is a shame that this is out of print. I was able to find it at the library, though.

1 comments about The Third Opinion.

1. I was devastated when my father told me that he had been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Upon hearing of the diagnosis, well meaning friends often asked how old my father was. Though likely intended to comfort, the query always had the opposite effect. I became inconsolable. That is, until I talked to my dear friend Steve Mikita. He spoke the first truly comforting words I would hear since the diagnosis. He said simply, "Mare, as much as you love your father, Heavenly Father loves him more." As Steve continued to speak, and I continued to weep, peace and comfort flooded my heart. I knew he was right. Whatever the held for my father, for me, it was going to be alright. I have often thought that the world would be a better place if everyone could be so fortunate as to have a friend like Steve Mikita. For those of you who don't know Steve, or who have never had the opportunity to hear him speak, reading his autobiography is surely the next best thing. Here, Steve shares the experiences of his remarkable life which uniquely enable him to empathize with, and to offer true comfort, hope and inspiration to the rest of us. With the support of an incredible family, and a particularly tenacious mother, Steve has endured and continues to endure trials most of us will only ever have to imagine. Though his muscles are weak and continue to atrophy, Steve is truly one of the most powerful men I know. Read his book. It will open your eyes to the as yet unrealized possibilities in your own life.