Special Needs Books

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Mitch Albom

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2107 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not all it's perked up to be! 2 out of 5 stars.
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After reading "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," by the same author, and reading/hearing comments about "Tuesdays with Morrie," I really thought this was going to be a great read also-- but it wasn't. Reviewers make it seem as though there are so many revealing thoughts and lessons to be learned through this book, however, I found most of them to be common sense based. It was interesting to follow how this elderly man degenerates, yet keeps a positive attitude all throughout. Nonetheless, it wasn't as engaging to read as "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."

Editorial Review:

This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for many reasons. For starters: it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the mentorship? Plus, we meet Morrie Schwartz--a one of a kind professor, whom the author describes as looking like a cross between a biblical prophet and Christmas elf. And finally we are privy to intimate moments of Morrie's final days as he lies dying from a terminal illness. Even on his deathbed, this twinkling-eyed mensch manages to teach us all about living robustly and fully. Kudos to author and acclaimed sports columnist Mitch Albom for telling this universally touching story with such grace and humility. --Gail Hudson

Somewhere in Heaven: The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve

Christopher Andersen

Amazon Price: $16.29 List Price: $23.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hyperion Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $13.91

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Dana is my life force."

--Christopher Reeve

"A terrible thing happened. I wish it hadn't. But would I change who I married? Never."

--Dana Reeve

He was a hero in every sense of the word--the chiseled-from-granite star of four blockbuster Superman films and the romantic classic Somewhere in Time who, after being paralyzed in a freak horseback riding accident, became a symbol of hope for millions. Dana Reeve was no less heroic, standing steadfastly by her husband's side until his surprisingly sudden and unexpected death at age fifty-two. When Dana, a non-smoker, passed away from lung cancer just seventeen months after Chris's death, she left behind their thirteen-year-old son, Will, to be raised by friends and family. Dana was only forty-four years old.

That fate could have dealt such a cruel hand to this golden couple seemed unfathomable. That they could endure it all with grace, courage, and humor defied belief.

Yet for all the millions of words that have been written about their public causes and private struggles following Chris's accident, little is known about the lives they led as passionate young lovers. Now, in the manner of his poignant-yet-stirring bestsellers Jack and Jackie, Jackie After Jack, An Affair to Remember, The Day Diana Died, After Diana, and The Day John Died, No. l New York Times bestselling author Christopher Andersen draws on those who knew them best to examine in touching detail the Reeves' unique partnership and the romance, faith, and fortitude that defined it.

Sometimes heartbreaking, often uplifting, always compelling, Somewhere in Heaven is more than just a portrait of a marriage. It is the profoundly human story of two souls whose brief lives made a difference, a bittersweet saga of tragedy, triumph, and loss, and--above all else--a love story for the ages.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

David Sheff

Amazon Price: $13.97 List Price: $24.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Co Amazon Marketplace: 118 new & used starting at $7.75

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 104 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Beautiful Boy 5 out of 5 stars.
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I have shared this book with my 21 yr old son who is in prison because of drug related crimes. I received a letter today saying that he now understands my side of his addiction. We have read both books (Beautiful Boy and Tweak)by father and son and have new insight and understanding for what we have BOTH been through. I hope to pass these books along to other family members and hope they gain some insight for what we have been through and can be more generous in their support for both of us. Thank you so much Sheff's for your bearing of soul. It has helped me and my son to grow closer.

Editorial Review:

Amazon Best of the Month, February 2008: From as early as grade school, the world seemed to be on Nic Sheff's string. Bright and athletic, he excelled in any setting and appeared destined for greatness. Yet as childhood exuberance faded into teenage angst, the precocious boy found himself going down a much different path. Seduced by the illicit world of drugs and alcohol, he quickly found himself caught in the clutches of addiction. Beautiful Boy is Nic's story, but from the perspective of his father, David. Achingly honest, it chronicles the betrayal, pain, and terrifying question marks that haunt the loved ones of an addict. Many respond to addiction with a painful oath of silence, but David Sheff opens up personal wounds to reinforce that it is a disease, and must be treated as such. Most importantly, his journey provides those in similar situations with a commodity that they can never lose: hope --Dave Callanan

The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life -- His Own

David Carr

Amazon Price: $15.60 List Price: $26.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon & Schuster Amazon Marketplace: 21 new & used starting at $14.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Amazon Best of the Month, August 2008: In his fabulously entertaining The Kid Stays in the Picture, legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans wrote: "There are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth." David Carr's riveting debut memoir, The Night of the Gun, takes this theory to the extreme, as the New York Times reporter embarks on a three-year fact-finding mission to revisit his harrowing past as a drug addict and discovers that the search for answers can reveal many versions of the truth. Carr acknowledges that you can't write a my-life-as-an-addict story without the recent memoir scandals of James Frey and others weighing you down, but he regains the reader's trust by relying on his reporting skills to conduct dozens of often uncomfortable interviews with old party buddies, cops, and ex-girlfriends and follow an endless paper trail of legal and medical records, mug shots, and rejection letters. The kaleidoscopic narrative follows Carr through failed relationships and botched jobs, in and out of rehab and all manner of unsavory places in between, with cameos from the likes of Tom Arnold, Jayson Blair, and Barbara Bush. Admittedly, it's hard to love David Carr--sometimes you barely like the guy. How can you feel sympathy for a man who was smoking crack with his pregnant girlfriend when her water broke? But plenty of dark humor rushes through the book, and knowing that this troubled man will make it--will survive addiction, fight cancer, raise his twin girls--makes you want to stick around for the full 400-page journey. --Brad Thomas Parsons

A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive

Dave Pelzer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1915 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

David J. Pelzer's mother, Catherine Roerva, was, he writes in this ghastly, fascinating memoir, a devoted den mother to the Cub Scouts in her care, and somewhat nurturant to her children--but not to David, whom she referred to as "an It." This book is a brief, horrifying account of the bizarre tortures she inflicted on him, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy being starved, stabbed, smashed face-first into mirrors, forced to eat the contents of his sibling's diapers and a spoonful of ammonia, and burned over a gas stove by a maniacal, alcoholic mom. Sometimes she claimed he had violated some rule--no walking on the grass at school!--but mostly it was pure sadism. Inexplicably, his father didn't protect him; only an alert schoolteacher saved David. One wants to learn more about his ordeal and its aftermath, and now he's written a sequel, The Lost Boy, detailing his life in the foster-care system.

Though it's a grim story, A Child Called "It" is very much in the tradition of Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul and the many books in that upbeat series, whose author Pelzer thanks for helping get his book going. It's all about weathering adversity to find love, and Pelzer is an expert witness.

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

Lance Armstrong, Sally Jenkins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 711 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

People around the world have found inspiration in the story of Lance Armstrong--a world-class athlete nearly struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multiday bicycle race famous for its grueling intensity. Armstrong is a thoroughgoing Texan jock, and the changes brought to his life by his illness are startling and powerful, but he's just not interested in wearing a hero suit. While his vocabulary is a bit on the he-man side (highest compliment to his wife: "she's a stud"), his actions will melt the most hard-bitten souls: a cancer foundation and benefit bike ride, his astonishing commitment to training that got him past countless hurdles, loyalty to the people and corporations that never gave up on him. There's serious medical detail here, which may not be for the faint of heart; from chemo to surgical procedures to his wife's in vitro fertilization, you won't be spared a single x-ray, IV drip, or unfortunate side effect. Athletes and coaches everywhere will benefit from the same extraordinary detail provided about his training sessions--every aching tendon, every rainy afternoon, and every small triumph during his long recovery is here in living color. It's Not About the Bike is the perfect title for this book about life, death, illness, family, setbacks, and triumphs, but not especially about the bike. --Jill Lightner

A Man Named Dave

Dave Pelzer

Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $12.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Plume Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $4.74

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 220 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The third tale in David Pelzer's autobiographical trilogy, A Man Named Dave is an inspiring story of terror, recovery, and hope experienced by the author throughout his life. Known for his work as a child abuse advocate, Pelzer has been commended by several U.S. presidents and international agencies, and his previous memoirs of growing up as an abused child (A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy) have touched thousands of lives. He provides living proof that we can "stop the cycle" and lead fulfilling, rewarding lives full of healthy relationships. Ultimately triumphant, this book will have you living through the eyes of a terrified child, a struggling young man, and an adult finally forgiving his dying father--reading with tissues nearby is recommended. Ending with a touching conversation between the author and his own son, you'll finish reading this with a warm heart and an enriched understanding of the need for compassion in all parts of life. --Jill Lightner

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

John Elder Robison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 140 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother in them)—had earned him the label “social deviant.” No guidance came from his mother, who conversed with light fixtures, or his father, who spent evenings pickling himself in sherry. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on.

After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS, for whom he created their legendary fire-breathing guitars. Later, he drifted into a “real” job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be “normal” and do what he simply couldn’t: communicate. It wasn’t worth the paycheck.
It was not until he was forty that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himself—and the world.

Look Me in the Eye is the moving, darkly funny story of growing up with Asperger’s at a time when the diagnosis simply didn’t exist. A born storyteller, Robison takes you inside the head of a boy whom teachers and other adults regarded as “defective,” who could not avail himself of KISS’s endless supply of groupies, and who still has a peculiar aversion to using people’s given names (he calls his wife “Unit Two”). He also provides a fascinating reverse angle on the younger brother he left at the mercy of their nutty parents—the boy who would later change his name to Augusten Burroughs and write the bestselling memoir Running with Scissors.

Ultimately, this is the story of Robison’s journey from his world into ours, and his new life as a husband, father, and successful small business owner—repairing his beloved high-end automobiles. It’s a strange, sly, indelible account—sometimes alien, yet always deeply human.

Madness: A Bipolar Life

Marya Hornbacher

Amazon Price: $14.55 List Price: $25.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $9.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

An astonishing dispatch from inside the belly of bipolar disorder, reflecting major new insights

When Marya Hornbacher published her first book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, she did not yet have the piece of shattering knowledge that would finally make sense of the chaos of her life. At age twenty-four, Hornbacher was diagnosed with Type I rapid-cycle bipolar, the most severe form of bipolar disorder.

In Madness, in her trademark wry and utterly self-revealing voice, Hornbacher tells her new story. Through scenes of astonishing visceral and emotional power, she takes us inside her own desperate attempts to counteract violently careening mood swings by self-starvation, substance abuse, numbing sex, and self-mutilation. How Hornbacher fights her way up from a madness that all but destroys her, and what it is like to live in a difficult and sometimes beautiful life and marriage -- where bipolar always beckons -- is at the center of this brave and heart-stopping memoir.

Madness delivers the revelation that Hornbacher is not alone: millions of people in America today are struggling with a variety of disorders that may disguise their bipolar disease. And Hornbacher's fiercely self-aware portrait of her own bipolar as early as age four will powerfully change, too, the current debate on whether bipolar in children actually exists.

Ten years after Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind, this storm of a memoir will revolutionize our understanding of bipolar disorder.

Girl, Interrupted

Susanna Kaysen

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Vintage Amazon Marketplace: 467 new & used starting at $0.49

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 428 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Time, Interrupted. 4 out of 5 stars.
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When I first started to read the book I was curious. I was expecting your "typical" order and style of another yet "typical" memoir. That is not the case here.

I did find it difficult to read in the beginning (and in parts throughout the book - more so in dealing with the deep psychology), but something still hooked me in. I think it was the unique style of how Kaysen starts to describe how she first got into McLean Hospital as if slipping into a, "parallel universe." She's extremely detailed with her own medical charts, sessions, opinions of herself, etc. throughout the chapters and is also pretty graphic but also shares some humor.

Kaysen is not afraid to speak about what she went through in McLean which I think is very brave since throughout time there are those of us who maybe afraid to speak the whole truth of our own well being.

I could relate to especially Kaysen on some level. Suffering from depression and anxiety from what life threw my way I found this book to be very profound. It also teaches us how precious time can be.

This book is out of order, but it fits with the book and with Kaysen for I believe she says at some point in the book she has trouble putting things or patterns in order. However, it is still easy to follow along.

It does dive deep into Kaysens psyche and her own interpretation of the hospital and events that occurred there during her stay.

Everyone in this book that is mentioned is not some "character" in a film. They are real people with real stories.

Kaysen is an intellect that helps us look into the realities of the "parallel universe" with her own story to tell of her "time, interrupted" at McLean Hospital.

This book may not be for all, but I *highly* recommend it.

Editorial Review:

When reality got "too dense" for 18-year-old Susanna Kaysen, she was hospitalized. It was 1967, and reality was too dense for many people. But few who are labeled mad and locked up for refusing to stick to an agreed-upon reality possess Kaysen's lucidity in sorting out a maelstrom of contrary perceptions. Her observations about hospital life are deftly rendered; often darkly funny. Her clarity about the complex province of brain and mind, of neuro-chemical activity and something more, make this book of brief essays an exquisite challenge to conventional thinking about what is normal and what is deviant.