by Ann Hamilton Wallace Jon Wallace ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2015
Despite its lack of new information, this intriguing book presents advice in a reassuring, approachable manner, providing...
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A mother and her autistic son offer a mixture of self-help manual, memoir, and treatment guide.
Debut author Jon Wallace was considered a miracle baby. Born later in his parents’ lives, after his father had a vasectomy, Jon initially seemed to be a typical little boy. His mother, Ann (The Bridge: Think of These Things, 2016, etc.), and her husband, Larry, attributed Jon’s sleep difficulties and occasional behavioral problems to their own overindulgent parenting. By the time Jon was in preschool, they realized they needed to determine what special arrangements he required. Although his diagnosis of autism was surprising and heartbreaking, Ann had more difficulty reconciling her feelings of guilt for not obtaining early intervention services sooner. She traces her experiences in finding the right schools and teachers to help Jon flourish, recounting her journey from timid soul to lioness. While Jon had some missteps—such as trusting a guru who didn’t have his best interests at heart—he developed some abiding interests, like martial arts and spirituality, that provided stability. Now in his late 20s, Jon, with the love and support of his parents and others, has settled into an independent, productive life. This engrossing book is divided into five main parts: Early Years, Middle Years, Present, My Research, and Summation. While the first three sections read more like a memoir, the fourth, focusing on research, deftly summarizes Ann’s extensive body of knowledge on suspected contributing causes to autism (and a host of health problems). For the most part, Ann, a songwriter and therapist, presents the material dispassionately, although her opinions can be discerned. Nonetheless, her balanced approach is a striking departure from some books on autism. She also includes, in full, an article on the overuse of the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome. Although Jon is credited as co-author, his most visible contributions are a few chapters solely written by him, although his memories undoubtedly informed much of his mother’s well-written and accessible narrative.
Despite its lack of new information, this intriguing book presents advice in a reassuring, approachable manner, providing hope to parents and others caring for children with autism.Pub Date: April 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9914347-0-1
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Sonrise Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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by Charlayne Hunter-Gault ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1992
From the national correspondent for PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour: a moving memoir of her youth in the Deep South and her role in desegregating the Univ. of Georgia. The eldest daughter of an army chaplain, Hunter-Gault was born in what she calls the ``first of many places that I would call `my place' ''—the small village of Due West, tucked away in a remote little corner of South Carolina. While her father served in Korea, Hunter-Gault and her mother moved first to Covington, Georgia, and then to Atlanta. In ``L.A.'' (lovely Atlanta), surrounded by her loving family and a close-knit black community, the author enjoyed a happy childhood participating in activities at church and at school, where her intellectual and leadership abilities soon were noticed by both faculty and peers. In high school, Hunter-Gault found herself studying the ``comic-strip character Brenda Starr as I might have studied a journalism textbook, had there been one.'' Determined to be a journalist, she applied to several colleges—all outside of Georgia, for ``to discourage the possibility that a black student would even think of applying to one of those white schools, the state provided money for black students'' to study out of state. Accepted at Michigan's Wayne State, the author was encouraged by local civil-rights leaders to apply, along with another classmate, to the Univ. of Georgia as well. Her application became a test of changing racial attitudes, as well as of the growing strength of the civil-rights movement in the South, and Gault became a national figure as she braved an onslaught of hostilities and harassment to become the first black woman to attend the university. A remarkably generous, fair-minded account of overcoming some of the biggest, and most intractable, obstacles ever deployed by southern racists. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-17563-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
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