No comments about Keep Smiling and Never Give Up!.

No comments about Secrets.

4 comments about Christal: Coping With Spina Bifida.

1. I must admit I know nothing about Spina Bifida and the affect it has on someone and the family. I will also admit that I haven't spent any real time reading or learning about it either. This book is a keen insight into the world of this malady and the ways in which people handle the event.

   Right from the beginning of the book you are taken to Christal's beginnings and with every page you read you are treated to a story about more than just coping, you are shown true courage.

   The book works through each aspect of the life of one person and how it affects those around her. The author weaves an interesting story-line to give you are real sense of what life is like.

   Overall a very well written book and real pleasure reading.




2. This book is written from the heart, but it is very poorly written. It may be helpful for families and people working with children who have spina bifida.



3. I have a child with spina bifida so I can certainly comiserate with the plight of Karen Snyder Travis and her family. However, what I cannot do is tolerate the unbelievably poor grammar used in this book. Many misspelled words are peppered throughout this quick read -- I was too distracted by all of these errors to focus on the story.

   And, about the story -- it is entirely too "matter of fact." Ms. Travis tells us what happens to Christal as if she were relaying information to a physician -- it's not storytelling. Storytelling is an art, a true talent that not many people posess. Unfortunately, Ms. Travis was not blessed with it.

   As eager as I am to get my hands on the too few books out there about families living with spina bifida, this is the worst one of I've had the misfortune of reading. I wish I hadn't even bothered.

   Bottom line: don't waste your time.




4. This is one of the best, and only book, I know of, which gives a positive outcome to a child born with a serious birth defect. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

3 comments about Father's Rooms.

1. Helen Resneck-Sannes' book is a tribute to love, the love between father and daughter, that is influenced but not diminished by Alzheimer's. Her tenacious love is in the details, the stories that make this book engaging.
   I appreciate how she embraced the whole stories, not
   shying from what must have been difficult to tell. Readers who accompany their parents on similar journeys will be lucky to have her words to companion them.
   Author of: Writing and the Spiritual Life: Finding Your Voice by Looking Within



2. Father's Rooms is a moving account of a father's last illness and his demise, and how it affects his family. It details his daughter's process as his primary caregiver, her interaction with her siblings, and how they all come to terms with their father's gradual loss of cognition. Although no two Alzheimer's patients are ever the same, this account will be helpful to any caregiver embarking on this perilous journey.
   Jill Ginghoffer, Executive Director
   Alzheimer's Association,Santa Cruz,Chapter



3. I had the good fortune to read Father's Rooms in early drafts four years
   ago and many scenes remain alive in my mind: the scene when Helen must leave her father at the door of the institution and he doesn't want her to go; the scene in the office of the funeral director where she and her brothers laugh about the kind of casket they'll choose and the director
   joins them in their intimate humor; the scene where she cries to her father that she still needs him to be her daddy and, in spite of his deterioration, he holds her and comforts her. I laughed. I cried. I loved this book. You will too. Certainly anyone who has ever dealt with Alzheimers should read it. But everyone else should too. It's more than a story about Alzheimers. It's a story about the human heart.

   Ellen Bass
   Author of: The Courage to Heal and Mules of Love

No comments about The Other Side of Sight: A Doorway at the End of Insanity.

No comments about See It My Way.

1 comments about Peace in the Red Rock Valley: ....as Long as Them Guns Hang There.

1. Yes, it really is a game of life and death. This book shows, though, that you can still have a laugh or two along the way. The stories which James tells distill the lessons of recovery down to good old boy stories you might have heard on the porches and at the picnics of the Georia country society.
   The sincerity with which he sheds the trappings of ego and explores new heights of self depracation, are nothing if they are not touching. He tells in the book that it started as a way for him to leave something for his children as a way of explanation that the man they knew as father was not alcoholically absent from their lives because of anything they did.
   The home spun philosophy and rural anecdotes may proove hard for some to grasp in their symbolic entirity. The language of the heart and honesty that is employed is understandable to those before and after him who choose not to drink or use, one day at a time.
   This is a fine piece of work and belongs on any person with an interest in recover's bookshelf.

2 comments about The Quander Quality: The True Story of a Black Trailblazing Diabetic.

1. The Quander Quality: The True Story Of A Black Trailblazing Diabetic co-authored by the father and son team of James W. Quander and Rohulamin Quander is the engaging biography of the late James W. Quander (1918-2004). Telling the intriguing story of Quander's diagnosis of diabetes shortly before his sixth birthday, and his dedicated and courageous pursuit to live a fulfilled and purposeful life, The Quander Quality is the inspirational and deeply personal history of how Quander eventually became on of the sixteen men ordained in the United States when the Permanent Diaconate was revived after an eight-hundred-year hiatus. An inspirational and engaging example of living and pursuing life to its greatest limits, The Quander Quality is very highly recommended as for all readers searching for a true life example of timely and enduring truths manifested in an ordinary human being with an extraordinary determination.



2. Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (11/06)
   
   James Quander was a trailblazer. He was an African American living in a society that had not yet accepted equality of all. He was a man with diabetes at a time when it was considered a disability and something that should be hidden.
   
   After a severe insulin reaction, Rohulamin encouraged his dad to write his courageous story. Rohulamin felt that reading about James' struggle with juvenile diabetes could encourage millions of others. Others needed to know that you can live successfully with this ailment. Together James and Rohulamin wrote this book.
   
   James was born in 1918 in Washington, D.C. He was officially diagnosed with diabetes.
   Bedwetting had become a problem. On one particular Easter Sunday James woke up tired and grouchy. He wasn't feeling well and was barely dragging along. "I collapsed onto one of the two forest green park benches that we always sat on in the front yard in the evenings. I just could not move and relished the fact that I was home... at least almost in my own room, in my own bed." When his father rushed to see if he was ok, "I answered, "Papa, Papa come get me. I'm too weak to get up. I can hardly move. Come get me." James was too weak to walk. Dr. Wilder was called, he suspected Juvenile Diabetes. Dr. Wilder and James became a team working together to prevent the condition from getting worse. "Never once did Mama or Papa ever let on to me that they believed that I was not going to make it. Instead they decided that they would do everything within their human ability to provide me with a quality of life equal to that of my two brothers and three sisters."
   
   James Quander shares his experiences with us, from being diabetic to playing basketball in high school, to his struggle with Scarlet Fever, to his academic achievements. I enjoyed reading Mr. Quander's story. It is one of success, and courage. The writing is superb; the cover introduces the book well. I highly recommend "The Quander Quality" to all who enjoy non-fiction, and to those who have diabetes or are parents of a diabetic.

1 comments about The Silent Cry: Lost Among The Hearing.

1. I agree with Scott, the first reviewer, Margaret's book is a must read book, inside you will find the beauty of silence in her life, her hardships, and how she overcame them. Margaret is Deaf and I saw her transform from a confused street person into a very stable woman in the 12 years I have known her. If there are flaws in the plot, I was too busy reading to discover any. That is probably the sign of a terrific book! The reason I say this is because she writes in American Sign Language, a language apart from English; however it has been modified to accommodate the English readers. It is a very absorbing well written book projecting a lot of courage and to overcome all of the stumbling blocks in her path. It's a book about a woman who should be bitter but has a forgiving nature. It is also about mental illnesses, and communication barriers. An EXCELLENT READ! Very Inspiring and many can learn from this book!

1 comments about While Coping With Breast Cancer.

1. For anyone whom is touched by breast cancer this book is worth reading. As the author takes us through her battle with breast cancer the reader discovers the many health battles she has had and a new crisis appears just three weeks after F.T. Hashem has been diagnosed with the devistating disease. While coping with breast cancer the author loses her beloved father suddenly to a stroke. The man that helped her through all her life-long battles; her greatest supporter was dead. This book will strengthen and encourage other women with breast cancer as they read just how Hashem marches on to fight the battle with only her Dad's spirit and teachings to guide her. Of course there was much more help from God and the self-help program she designed. Not only is this book inspiring but will give those suffering with breast cancer many ideas on how to cope with the disease.