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A review by claudiaswisher
Life Happens Next by Terry Trueman
4.0
Terry Trueman is writing this with the full weight of experience. His son has CP and is similarly trapped in a body that just doesn't work, exactly like Shawn. And his wife has a sister with Down Syndrome, just like Debi, a new character added from the first book.
At the end of STUCK IN NEUTRAL, we and Shawn wonder if his father is about to kill him...out of love and despair, but kill his own son. We obviously learn the answer with this book.
Shawn's voice is so smart and smarty. He is so ironically aware of the huge difference between what he KNOWS is happening in his brain, and what the world, including his family THINKS is happening. He remembers everything he hears; he can read; he understands complex relationships. But he's trapped in a body that doesn't work.
Into the family comes Debi and Rusty. Debi's a relative of Shawn's mother -- mentally retarded and very childlike for her adult body. Rusty is a dog that truly scares Shawn, who is powerless against the teeth and intent of this suspicious canine.
But Shawn learns that Rusty can anticipate his seizures and can comfort him. He learns that Debi understands how smart he is. She's the first person to reach out and take his hand.
Trueman forces his readers to acknowledge how very little we know about each other. Give someone a disability and the fences go up and we know even less.
I'm so impressed by Trueman's honesty and courage...he tells us about his own family as he invents Shawn. Important book.
At the end of STUCK IN NEUTRAL, we and Shawn wonder if his father is about to kill him...out of love and despair, but kill his own son. We obviously learn the answer with this book.
Shawn's voice is so smart and smarty. He is so ironically aware of the huge difference between what he KNOWS is happening in his brain, and what the world, including his family THINKS is happening. He remembers everything he hears; he can read; he understands complex relationships. But he's trapped in a body that doesn't work.
Into the family comes Debi and Rusty. Debi's a relative of Shawn's mother -- mentally retarded and very childlike for her adult body. Rusty is a dog that truly scares Shawn, who is powerless against the teeth and intent of this suspicious canine.
But Shawn learns that Rusty can anticipate his seizures and can comfort him. He learns that Debi understands how smart he is. She's the first person to reach out and take his hand.
Trueman forces his readers to acknowledge how very little we know about each other. Give someone a disability and the fences go up and we know even less.
I'm so impressed by Trueman's honesty and courage...he tells us about his own family as he invents Shawn. Important book.