A Book Report on A Slant of Sun: One Child`s Courage

A lie of Sun One Childs resolution was named Best Book of the Year by Salon magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer. The book is also a finalist for the 1998 National Book Award for Nonfiction. A Slat of Sun was quickly regarded as a contemporary classic, as it was highly commended for its heartwarming story about love in the saying of a great challenge between mother and son.This book is a personal memoir of Beth Kephart, about her son, Jeremy, who had a PDD diagnosis. Kephart narrates her familys search for medical and therapeutic assistance, as well as the answers she had found serendipitously along her way. In the face of a great challenge, a mother rediscovers herself and life in general. She lives with her family in Pennsylvania.According to one of the book reviews available online, A Slant of Sun One Childs Courage gives voice to all of the mothers who ever wondered about their childs difference, and the revised definition of motherhood in the shadow of disability, (Gabovitc h, 2002).Another review says, Kepharts fears that her own maternal failings atomic number 18 whatsoeverhow implicated in Jeremys problem stand out as the emotional core of this memoir. Her faith in her son, perseverance, and eventual acceptance of herself play as important a role in his healing process (DiLucchio, 1998).Both reviews focused on the rich message intended for mothers in A Slant of Sun. In her review, she notes that a childs disability creates a new concept of motherhood, and ultimately, it redefines a mothers life, especially the way she perceives herself as a mother.Indeed, A Slant of Sun tugs at mothers heart strings because motherhood is difficult as it is. A childs difficulty multiplies the challenges in many ways, and as such, mothers are called to summon all their courage and give the best love that they can give so that their children can prolong a taste of a normal life.The main characters in the story are the author herself, and her son, Jeremy. They are su pported by Bill, the husband and father. The characters each has a solid spirit that seems to have been designed for overcoming struggles.The parents amazing love for their child helped them through the situation, and ultimately helped Jeremy. It is difficult to divide sympathy among them, because each couldnt possibly be suffering to a greater extent than the other, considering how much love they have for each other.Jeremys case is called PDD or pervasive developmental disorder. It is as vague as it sounds, which made it even more than difficult for Jeremys family to understand the scenario they were in. PDD is somehow related to the complex autism disorder, except PDD seemed milder.Evenso, there were no sufficiently authoritative medical conclusion about PDD, let alone manuals for parents whose children also have Jeremys disorder. The author said her child screamed each time strangers approached him and spent a lot of time daily rearranging his toys into some pattern that only he (Jeremy) can understand.I think the book is more than successful at bringing to public attention the case of PDD. For one, the author radius from her home, and from her heart. When a highly technical or complicated disorder should be understood by the public, there is no better way than to tell it as it is experienced daily in the family. Not just families who are familiar with the disorder appreciate the book practically every reader who loves his/her family could relate to it.The info and imagery within the story that chronicles the familys daily reactions to Jeremys PDD episodes is related to the readers in a fantastic manner. Kephart should be commended for relaying a story so atrocious yet so full of positive vibe about it. There are even moments in the story when Kephart sounded life and rich in sentiency of humor. As it is written straight from a mothers heart, every word was raw and striking, as if the conversation was personal and one-on-one.Jeremys parents found expert s opinions lacking, so they took matters into their own loving hands. They allowed Jeremy to keep his interests trains and cars to planes and trucks and allowed him to react to strangers in his own way, while they stay close to back him up.More importantly, the parents made a wise decision by picking a good school for Jeremys learning progress. By clinging to her intuition and creative imagination, Jeremys mother helped him find his way through the grubby tunnel of his disorder, which not many medical experts could do on their own. True enough, parents love, more specially a mothers love, is the most powerful healer of all.The book made me appreciate my normal life more. I also think it is a powerful reminder that not everything can be solve by knowledge gained by education. While education is important and its worth cannot be discounted, it is not the only solution to our lifes trials. In fact, a persons strong will and sheer determination can help him get things done. Jeremys parents were not experts in Jeremys condition, but in the end, it was them who found the ways to make Jeremy function normally in the society.Ultimately, the parents unyielding belief that their child could be well has helped Jeremy overcome the difficulties caused by his disorder.BibliographyKephart, B. (1998). A Slant of Sun One Childs Courage. New York W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.Harper Collins. Beth Kephart from Harper Collins Publishers.Retrieved November 9, 2006.Web site http//www.harpercollins.com/authors/19248/Beth_Kephart/index.aspxGabovitch, E. (2002). Book Review Mothers and Autism. Retrieved November 9, 2006. Web site http//www.firstsigns.org/articles/mothers_2002.htmDiLucchio , P. (1998). Amazons Customer Review. Retrieved November 9, 2006.Website http//www.amazon.ca/Slant-Sun-One-Childs-Courage/dp/product- definition/0393027422