An unflinching, earnest, and vulnerable parenting account.
A child psychologist recounts the difficulties of raising a son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in this memoir.
Early in Quie’s (co-author: You Might Be Raising an A**hole If…, 2018) book, she discusses the rocky months surrounding her son William’s birth, describing a nurse’s accidentally breaking her water, her infant son’s inability to properly nurse, and the onset of postpartum depression. Even as a toddler, the author recalls, William showed abnormal behavior, including nonstop energy and a refusal to eat anything that didn’t look absolutely flawless, as though it was “molded in a wax museum.” When William was 4, the author and her husband adopted a 14-month-old girl from China; the baby had severe attachment issues, which further drained the author’s emotional energy. After William began attending school, Quie saw that he required professional help that she couldn’t give. She describes her frustration with William’s inability to focus enough to tie his shoes, to follow directions of more than one step, and to learn to write. Even after he was diagnosed with ADHD, Quie clung to her belief that her education in child psychology, and her and her husband’s dedication to parenting, would be enough to help William thrive. For years, she grew angry with William’s teachers who refused to acknowledge the difficulties that children with ADHD can face. Eventually, William was prescribed Adderall and, over time, the family developed routines to help William make it through each day. Quie’s yearning to help her son will be keenly relatable for many, and over the course of the book, she strikes an appealing tone of compassion. She also punctuates the text with well-timed moments of humor: “my mind had a heyday casting spells on Dr. Morris. A flat tire on his way home from work, a vicious complaint to the medical board, a grandchild who only ate Pop-Tarts.” The author also mixes in diagnostic terminology in a natural way, such as explanations of ADHD subtypes and stimulants used for treatment. Readers who are close to children who may be struggling with ADHD will find solace in Quie’s story.
An unflinching, earnest, and vulnerable parenting account.Pub Date: May 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63489-217-9
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Wise Ink
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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