Dance with Your Heart: Tales and Poems That the Heart Tells [Paperback]

Shirley Cheng (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 2004

The tales and poems held between the pages of Dance with Your Heart are filled with inspirations, lessons, and magic. Most of the stories take no more than a few minutes to read, and yet they allow the reader to discover and visit worlds never before visited. Inch alongside a tiny snail as she goes through a journey of self-discovery in The Gift of Uniqueness, and learn that cooperation is the key to working successfully, yielding desirable fruits in the story, The Raging Sun and Rain. The poems range from thought-provoking to inspirational; their language is simple yet lyrical, and they are written with sincerity, clarity, and that rarest commodity: wisdom.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

This book comprises of short stories and poems I have written between the ages of twelve and twenty-one. I used a screen reader on the computer to write and expand the tales and poems since I am totally blind, and I also formatted the entire manuscript without vision. I hope these pages will bring others inspiration and encouragement.

About the Author

Shirley Cheng, born in 1983, was diagnosed with severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at only eleven months old. She had been hospitalized for years between China and America until 1994. She started schooling at age eleven without any prior education. Miraculously, she spent merely 180 days in special education class in elementary school before she transferred to a regular sixth grade class in middle school. Since then, Shirley had received 100 on every NYS essay test, and stayed at the top of the class ever since. She was awarded for achieving the highest grade of 97 in Earth science in her eighth grade class. She was the Student of the Year and the Student of the Month, as well as a three-time winner of the National Reflections Program in visual arts. Two of her writings were published when she was fourteen and fifteen. She was a contributor to the high school newspaper, providing artworks in tenth grade. She received a standing ovation when she delivered a speech as a candidate for student body vice president in ninth grade.

When her eyesight began to deteriorate at the beginning of tenth grade, she had to use two pieces of magnifying glasses on enlarged print to do her work throughout the year, even with the artwork she provided for the school newspaper. In classes, she learned only by listening to the teachers, even with chemistry and math, because she was unable to see the blackboard, but still maintained excellent grades. Unfortunately, she completely lost her vision in April of tenth grade. She then received home tutoring, and successfully did all her schoolwork strictly by using cassette tapes and tape recorders. She wrote and balanced long chemistry formulas and equations without vision or Braille. Her high school overall average is a 97. But Shirley could not accumulate enough credits to receive a high school diploma from her school due to her vision loss. In 2002, she received her high school equivalency diploma. She took the entire GED test, including mathematical calculations, graphs, and an essay in her head, and received a special recognition award for scoring a very high score (nearly 3,300). She was a student speaker at the GED graduation ceremony, and was the only one who received a standing ovation for her speech. After a successful eye surgery, she hopes to earn doctorates in microbiology, zoology, pathology, astronomy, and physiology from Harvard University.

Shirley is also the author of: Daring Quests of Mystics (ISBN: 1589395131 for softcover and 1589395158 for hardcover) The Revelation of a Star's Endless Shine: A Young Woman's Autobiography of a 20-Year Tale of Trials & Tribulations (ISBN: 1411618602)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (December 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1411618580
• ISBN-13: 978-1411618589
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,961,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy, then read this book to your kids, March 10, 2006

By 

M. R. Campbell (North Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dance with Your Heart: Tales and Poems That the Heart Tells (Paperback)

The enchanting tales and poems in this book dance on the page. They are well written and exuberant. With a gentle touch, they inspire and teach profound life lessons in the manner of mythic tales and fables. After stories such as "The Greedy Cat" and "The Dishonest Fox" bring a knowing smile to your face, they will delight your children and grandchildren through multiple readings.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A collection of fantastic tales and poems, August 1, 2005

By 

S V SWAMY "swamy-reviews" (Hyderabad, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dance with Your Heart: Tales and Poems That the Heart Tells (Paperback)

Dance with Your Heart is Shirley Cheng's (to know more pl. see www.shirleycheng.com) collection of short stories and poems, some of them written when she was in school. Some of the stories and poems were published in local press and won awards. While I could not appreciate her poems much (because I am not much of a poetry fan), I did enjoy reading her stories, which show her very vivid imagination.

The True Leader is about the true traits of a great leader, including kindness and courage, willingness to sacrifice oneself for the sake of others. A doe is portrayed as teaching the apparent leader lion, a few lessons in real leadership.

Fancella, the Fire Goddess is a fanciful tale about why a fire is hot, which apparently was not initially so. Interesting to read.

Smell the Roses is a heart-warming story about the transforma-tion of a man by a girl dying of cancer.

There are many more stories, most of them good to read, with some useful moral.

Shirley writes in a fluid style, though the language gets a bit flowery at times. Those who like to escape into a world of fantasy for a few hours by reading the stories will like the book.

The book is well printed with an easy-to-read font. It will be a good buy for children and parents who like their children to read some good stories. It will also be a good addition to libraries and schools.

- Swamy

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dance With Your Heart, July 5, 2005

By 

Anne K. Edwards "AKE" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dance with Your Heart: Tales and Poems That the Heart Tells (Paperback)

Title: Dance With Your Heart
Author: Shirley Cheng
Publisher: [...]
ISBN: 1411618580
Genre: Nonfiction

This collection of short stories and poetry will lift your spirit as you
read. Filled with color and colorful imagery, bright and wonderful
characters, you'll find yourself smiling as you read.

Some of the stories are reminiscent of the old fables we grew up with, such
as the story about the cat who had a bird but wanted the larger one held by
another cat reflected in the water. A very pleasant way to step back into
our childhoods and relive a pleasant moment while building new memories of a
new author's work.

Or perhaps they'll remind you of the evenings spent sitting by the fire
listening to an elderly relative tell stories they'd learned in childhood.
They might also bring back the lovely tales we remember our mothers reading
to us about fairies and other creatures who dwell in the netherland of
memory stirring fiction.

Talented Shirley Cheng's work is one of pleasant associative memories that
you may want to read more than once. There is a lot more contained in this
collection than just once-upon-a-time. Read and enjoy. I did.