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Roxy the Raccoon: A Story to Help Children Learn about Disability and Inclusion by Alice Reeves is a book about Roxy who is disabled and needs a wheelchair and what her life is like. 

This heart felt book for ages 4-8 shows children that there are ways to include a person who can not walk or stand, in their games and life, and how to be creative in finding ways around obstacles.

Roxy the Raccoon is differently-abled and cannot do the same thing as some of the other animals in the forest but with a bit of thought and working together they are able to play together and hang out and see and do the same things. This beautiful story shows how Roxy's friends make her feel included. The illustrations done in watercolor and are eye catching. A stunning book for all children.

I received an ARC from Jessica Kingsley Publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Apr 10, 2020  
"Edison Jones and The Anti-GRAV Elevator is a fantastic story that straps you in for a very exciting adventure throughout its pages."

Stop by my blog, and read my review for the Middle Grade/Young Adult action novel EDISON JONES AND THE ANTI-GRAV ELEVATOR by Author Michael Scott Clifton. Also, enter the #GIVEAWAY to #win a $15 #Amazon GIFT CARD, a bookmark, and/or a copy of the book!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/04/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-edison.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Twelve-year-old Edison Jones is a prodigy with a passion for technology and inventions. Paralyzed from the waist down since the age of five, he hasn’t let his disability slow him down. Then his world changes overnight when his grandfather, a billionaire tech company owner, decides to enroll him in a public school. Algorithms, quantum physics, and digital engineering are easy. Finding his way in the bewildering world of boys and girls his own age is quite another thing . . . the biggest challenge of his life.
     
The Close (Maeve Kerrigan #10)
The Close (Maeve Kerrigan #10)
Jane Casey | 2023 | Crime, Thriller
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
We’re back with Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent in The Close, and they certainly have a full case load!

Maeve starts investigating the murder of a hospital consultant, whose body is found in his car in the hospital car park. She is also roped in to helping Josh on another case. One where they have to go undercover as a house/ dog sitting couple, whilst they investigate the death of a man with a learning disability. Oh, what a bind - to be stuck in a house with Josh Derwent for weeks!

Well, all doesn’t go quite as expected, but the tension is high with both Maeve, Josh and the case!

There are some great interactions in what appears at first glance to be an idyllic neighbourhood. It really isn’t.

The crimes are shocking, and it comes as no surprise that outwardly good people do terrible things.

I can’t wait to see what happens between Kerrigan and Derwent in the next book, but I suppose I’ll just have to!

Highly recommended!
  
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Connor Sheffield (293 KP) created a post in Fantasy Friends

Aug 16, 2018  
So this is a new place to talk all things Fantasy. I noticed there was an orb for books specifically but I think a place to explore all mediums regarding fantasy is much better as it will open up so many new world's to those who have not yet explored other mediums or at least not as much as some have. For instance I play a lot of videogames and watch a lot of films but I don't read as many books because it takes me a while to read one book due to a learning disability (quite odd for someone who wants to be a writer I know) but I've been making my way through some books such as The Never Ending Story, and H.P. Lovecraft best weird tales in the Necronomicon and I would love to hear and discuss what others read and find.

Just a few simple rules:

- Be Kind (naturally)
- Debate, don't argue! These will be people's opinions. If you don't agree, either say so in a kind way that puts your point across or don't comment at all. Simple as that.
- Have fun :)
  
Rory O'Shea Was Here (aka Inside I'm Dancing) (2004)
Rory O'Shea Was Here (aka Inside I'm Dancing) (2004)
2004 | Biography, Comedy, Drama
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The best British comedy made. (0 more)
No one watched it. (0 more)
One of the best films Britain made yet no one watched
You've seen Brassed Off, you've seen Four Weddings and Funeral, you've seen Notting Hill and the Full Monty. But you didn't watch this. So few people watched Inside I'm Dancing that they re-released it with the new name Rory O'Shea Was Here and removed any images of wheelchairs from the cover.

It must have been the wheelchairs that did it. No one watched this incredible film about two disabled friends and their rebellion against disability stereotypes. It's absolutely incredible and it will make you laugh, it will make you cry and will make you think and challenge your perspectives.

There are two friends, one is a reserved chap who does as he's told, the other is a punk rock rebel in a wheelchair and refuses to confirm how everyone says he has to. Watch how one comes out of their shell and the other wrestles with their sense of self.

I've shown this film to so many people who haven't heard of it but then rate it full marks after laughing and crying. Will you be another one?
  
The Perseverence
The Perseverence
Raymond Antrobus | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’m not quite sure how to review a collection of poetry, so I think I’ll start by saying that I really enjoyed it. The themes centre around feelings of duality, I thought: being deaf in a hearing world, being mixed race, the poet feeling that he doesn’t belong in Jamaica with his relatives telling him just that, a feeling that he doesn’t belong in the UK either.
It made me really think about what it is to have an invisible disability too. In ‘Miami Airport’, the official says:
“You don’t look deaf?
can you prove it?”
This reminded me of the times when I would have to pull up my sons trouser leg to show his splints when challenged about queuing for the disabled toilet (please don’t do this, it’s not cool) - something he rightly wont let me do anymore, I should add!
It was really good to read this on The Pigeonhole, too, and to have some discussion about the poems. I do hope they repeat this soon. Oh, and I bought the book as well, because I really like to read poetry again (and again!). I’m a bit of a ‘poetry dipper’ 😉
  
The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The story of a reluctant spy and a tragic plot
Joseph Conrad continues to write about the dark side of humanity, similar to his other work the Heart of Darkness. The book reads like two separate tales - that of the Verloc family and that of the anarchists.

Set in bleak Victorian London, the novel follows the life of Mr. Verloc, a secret agent, who also is a married businessman on the side selling inappropriate bric-a-brac. His friends are a group of anarchists of which three people are most prominent. Although largely ineffectual as terrorists, they are well known to the police. Verloc is also secretly employed by the Embassy as an agent provocateur. And here it all falls apart.

The more intriguing part of the book surrounds the family, especially his wife Winnie who essentially behaves like a timid matriarch before becoming distraught over the thought of being hanged. Stevie, Winnie's brother who has a mental disability, is treated more like a son than a sibling. And when he encounters tragedy, Winnie changes into a completely different person.

At times, the political aspect can be long-winded, but it ends in a major climax so it's worth getting to the end.
  
The Kiss Quotient
The Kiss Quotient
Helen Hoang | 2018 | Romance
8
8.4 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bold & Original Romance Adds Up
Back when I read the First Impression excerpt of The Kiss Quotient on Bookish First this past spring, I knew Helen Hoang's novel was sure to be one of the most talked about romances of 2018.

Bolstered by its inclusion as one of June's Book of the Month Club titles (which is where I nabbed my copy), it has fulfilled that promise and more as the genre's most popular summer beach read.

Taking familiar romance genre paradigms and giving them a new spin, Hoang's startlingly sexy title might bill itself as a gender swapped Pretty Woman but it actually reads more like a politically correct version of Fifty Shades of Grey... only with econometrics, martial arts, and fashion design filling in for the Red Room.

Centering its sexy Pygmalion narrative around a heroine with Asperger's whose disability does not define her – a premise that originally attracted me to the novel – the book is both a refreshing step forward for fictional disabled representation and a bold work all around.

While it inevitably suffers from predictable genre conventions including a slightly clunky start that moves from Point A to Z at an unrealistic pace, once Hoang balances out her equation, The Kiss Quotient really adds up.

Note: I would probably give this book 7.5, if able to award half points.
  
Mickey On The Move
Mickey On The Move
Michelle Wagner | 2021 | Children
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mickey on the Move by Michelle Wagner was bright, beautiful, and a book I believe should be in every home/school. It emphasized that we can overcome anything that gets thrown in our path whether it is a disability like Mickey had or a bad grade in class we can work to find solutions to help us have a normal way of life. I loved how Mickey’s mom was not fazed by her son’s diagnosis but immediately started thinking of ways to help his life be as normal as possible and learning sign language right along with him. The illustrations were detailed and helped add more dimension to the story as you could more easily visualize what Mickey was going through. Plus, I liked the look and feel of the paper used, it is a strong durable paper that will last through many hands reading it. The verbiage used in this story is geared towards 3rd-5th grade reading level based on word choice, and paragraph structure. However, I think it still would be fun for even younger readers to follow along with.

I sincerely enjoyed this book and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
  
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Guy Pearce recommended The Elephant Man (1980) in Movies (curated)

 
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Elephant Man (1980)
1980 | Drama, History

"It came out in 1980 and I have a sister with an intellectual disability. I think in 1980 — when I was 12 and I saw The Elephant Man for the first time — the film just struck a chord in me that nothing ever had before, and it does to this day when I watch it. Obviously the performances by Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt and John Gielgud, etc. are just so sensitive and touching that it’s heartbreaking for me. It really touches me in a way that I think has — not to suggest that my sister has the same condition that Joseph Merrick had — but the way in which that character feels ostracized and the way in which people are judgmental of him are all things that really hit home for me as a young boy trying to protect my sister out there in the world. Very much connected to my upbringing, but obviously quite a different story. But I just think Anthony Hopkins in that film, the way that David Lynch captured him, and obviously the way he performed that role of Freddy Treves just… There’s nothing better. Anthony Hopkins is someone who I think does sensitivity on screen better than anybody anyway, so his heartbreak and his compassion for that character was just unforgettable really."

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