Americas

Materials from the Americas

Waiting For No One

Taylor Jane Simon is an eighteen-year-old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome who has a refreshingly different view of the people she encounters and the life she wants to have. Young adult readers will identify with Taylor’s struggle for independence and self-control, and empathize as she outlines the ways—both positive and negative– that her Asperger’s Syndrome affects her daily life. Connecting with a play by Samuel Beckett, Taylor explores a fear of solitary existence while reaching out to a world at times perplexing. Most important, Taylor wants to be seen as an individual, not as a stereotypical “person with special needs,” or a rare wild flower—images that haunt her from the past. A cameo performance by Taylor’s new gerbil — Harold Pinter– adds further emphasis to themes of existentialism and humour.

See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4

The Lovely Shoes

Can the right pair of shoes make *anyone* feel beautiful? Franny is constantly embarrassed by two things in her life. One is her right foot, which curls in from a birth defect, so she has to wear ugly, heavy orthopedic shoes. And the other is her mother Margaret: beautiful, extravagant, flamboyant — *mortifying*, in their small Ohio town. Franny’s first school dance is a disaster, so Margaret announces her latest crazy plan: They will travel to Italy to meet Salvatore Ferragamo, who will sculpt a pair of slippers especially for Franny. The idea is outrageous. The trip is expensive. And the experience changes Franny’s life forever.

See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4

Out Of My Mind

Melody has a photographic memory. She remembers everything that has ever happened to her in precise, exact detail—from the words to a song she once heard when she was little to what she ate for a typical mundane breakfast. She also knows thousands and thousands of facts. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always—and there’s no delete button. She’s the smartest kid in her whole school—but, NO ONE knows because she has virtually no way of communicating. Melody has cerebral palsy. All most people see is a special needs kid–never suspecting that trapped inside this eleven-year old girl is more information and insight than they ever imagined. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is until she discovers a computerized talking device that will allow her communicate for the first time ever. A dream come true! At last, she’s able to talk, to be in a regular classroom, and have regular conversations! Melody even joins the Whiz Kids Quiz Team—and becomes one of their most valuable members. She’s showing everyone what she is really capable of and surprising even herself with the power of her computerized voice. But, what if people—teachers, classmates, friends—don’t want Melody to succeed? And what if Melody’s new voice isn’t loud enough to be heard over all her difficulties? From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Melody is learning to communicate with the world…and teaching the world how to communicate with her. If you are brave enough, strong enough, if you can bear to listen, hers is a story you need to hear.

See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4