Keeping Keller [Paperback]

Tracy Winegar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2008

Keller is a force to be reckoned with! The year is 1955, and few people understand or tolerate mental handicaps. For Beverly and Warren Vance, the daily struggle to live with their handicapped son, Keller, is taking its toll. Keller is large for his age and often aggressive, prone to throwing tantrums and breaking everything in sight. Beverly and Warren have been encouraged to institutionalize him, or at least keep him out of public view. But they decided long ago that trying to teach and raise him was a better option - at least until now. When a shocking development and a disastrous incident complicate their decision, the lines between right and wrong become increasingly blurred. Yet in the end, through their own choices they come to understand that the most important thing in life is family.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tracy Winegar was born and raised in Muncie, Indiana, the third of eight children. After high school graduation she moved to Provo, Utah, where she met and married her husband of ten years, Ben. Together they reside in Northern Utah, with their four children, Brynlee, Lucas, Hayden, and Lydia. Tracy is a strong supporter of programs for children with autism. She served on the Board of Trustees and was instrumental in helping open the first nontuition school for autistic children in Utah. Her favorite nonprofit organization is the Northern Utah Autism Program, where both of her boys attended preschool. A portion of her profit from the sales of this book will be given to this charity.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: Cedar Fort Inc. (March 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599551152
• ISBN-13: 978-1599551159
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,577,128 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 In A Class of It's Own, April 23, 2008

By 

K. Ferbey (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeping Keller (Paperback)

This wonderfully written novel is sure to take you in. I read it from cover to cover in a matter of 24 hours, I literally could not put it down! I thought the author was brilliant in her descriptions and the book flowed so smoothly that it was as if I was there witnessing it all with my own eyes. It opened for me, a window into a world I know almost nothing about, and as result of it, I hope to be more sensitive, and more compassionate in the future to people that deal with mental or physical disabilities.
Thank you for writing such an inspiring story, it has been a long time since I have been touched so deeply by a book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, April 22, 2008

By 

Gregg Luke (Millville, Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeping Keller (Paperback)

Tracy Winegar has hit a home run with her first novel. Keeping Keller is a poignant tale that makes the reader think twice about children and relationships. I loved it and highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hearts in the Heartland, September 4, 2008

By 

BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Keeping Keller (Paperback)

This is a deeply moving and very beautiful story.

Set in Indiana in 1955, Beverly and Warren are at a loss as how to raise their 5-year-old son, Keller who has autism. Marginally verbal, the boy is rigid about routines and has difficulty interacting. He also requires a lot of supervision.

Beverly luckily has a small support system in the form of a very kind malt shop owner and a neighbor who discloses her own secret anguish. Warren is a kind and loving husband and father who spurns his sexually predatory secretary's inappropriate advances and who turns a deaf ear to his father's sexist comments. His family and his 1953 Dodge Coronet are his pride and, to him, his best accomplishments.

Parts of this book are funny. Keller's special interest in elephants leads to an embarrassing episode in a grocery store where his drive to find toy elephants proves costly. He also demonstrates destructive behavior while visiting one of Beverly's friends.

Things come to a head in early 1956. Keller's behavior spirals out of control with some devastating consequences. Warren is forced to consider making a desperate, drastic decision.

A beautiful, deeply moving story set during an era when the word "autism" had only been coined little more than a decade earlier (1943), the delightful characters and rich descriptions as well as the history lessons contained throughout and within the story all work to make this a masterpiece.