Kelly Harland, A will of his Own
Firstly I must declare my bias. In recent years I have come to love the genre of the short story. “Kelly’s” delightful book is a series of vinettes. Perfect bite sized pieces of autism. Easily digestible in small doses for those of us who are short on time. My copy is the “revised” edition. I imagine that many of them could be read independently and out of sequence as each one stands in it’s own right. I’m guessing of course but I can see how these pieces could easily be read aloud. In ‘A will of his own’ the author’s melodic tones capture snapshots of her son from his early days and onwards as he grows and develops into a young man. It’s no accident that Kelly is a “musician” as her voice as a writer comes over as a warm and affectionate melody. To be frank I find it difficult to be dispassionate and impartial about the subject of autism because of my own personal experiences. However, I believe Kelly’s writing style clearly exposes a picture of her son that is accessible to everyone. I have a keen eye for jargon and technical language as it can be off-putting to those not in the know, but her words and use of language merely flowed to tell a story in context. It is a slim volume full of delicate, poignant insights but with the strength of powerfully honed reality.
It is available from “Jessica Kingsley Publishers” and “Amazon” just to name just a couple.
August 9th, 2009 at 5:20 am
This one is coming via the ILLO system. I haven’t asked for the other 2 yet. Vicki’s isn’t available so I’d have to request the library order it.
I read the post below and I find people are particularly harsh – Sharon’s The Horse Boy which she never even read, Mom-NOS – The Strange Son – about people who’s lives are completely different from their own and choose to do something they personally would not do.
I refuse to judge people for that reason. I am not them, and they are not I.
I also, don’t expect people to write stories where it’s all roses and sunshine. I find the Hub’s sugar coating of the realities of autism to do more harm than good. It’s not a support forum, it’s a “we have an agenda” forum and as soon as someone posts elsewhere of things that overwhelm them… the Hub instead of using compassion, empathy and gives suggestions of help… is rude, ignorant and slaps.
Knowing this, if I ever finish my “epic” one day, those on the Hub will hate it. Although there’s been many days of sunshine and I’ll put them in, there’s been just as many of clouds and rain and I’m not sugar coating them.
My comments on these book are, and will continue to be over on goodreads.
August 9th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Thanks, Maddy!
August 9th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Wow! She seems amazing. I need to read the book!
August 9th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Thanks for the review, Maddy. This sounds like a good one!
August 10th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
i’ve ordered this from amazon over here – thanks for putting me in touch with it.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Thanks for these recent book reviews/mentions. I have been wanting to start reading more autism books (have steadfastly avoided for quite some time but I think I must change my ways).
Already read This Lovely Life and was very moved by it.
August 24th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Thank you so much for your wonderful review — I am thrilled! The book has done very well and Will is now a thriving, talented 18-year-old. I will stay tuned to your terrific website!