Positively ADD: Real Success Stories to Inspire Your Dreams [Hardcover]

Catherine A. Corman (Author), Edward M. Hallowell (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Don't be distracted by the bad news about ADD.

Meet seventeen people from all walks of life, including political advisor James Carville, Books-a-Million chairman Clyde Anderson, and JetBlue CEO David Neelman, who have succeeded in a wide variety of high-interest fields: professional athlete, musician, reporter, chef, sportscaster, photographer, police officer, CEO. These people did not succeed despite their ADD, they succeeded because of the special qualities that go hand in hand with the challenges of ADD.

A bestselling expert in the field teams up with a mother of triplets with
ADD to deliver a much-needed inspirational book that looks at ADD from a rarely seen positive angle.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–Profiles of successful entrepreneurs, educators, artists, athletes, and musicians, all of whom reached their success in spite of–or, as they sometimes claim, because of–ADD. The entries are sandwiched between advice from Edward Hallowell, a physician with ADD who has experience treating children and adults with the syndrome, and questions and answers about it. The stories are informative and inspiring, obviously written to help children understand the realities of living with the disorder. Great care has been taken to provide insight from both men and women, and African Americans and whites, but the writing is uninspired, and often stilted and dull. In spite of this, there is much to recommend this book: the variety of the people, the solutions that individuals have found for working and living with ADD, and the frank discussions of medications. This book, with its many discussion topics, may be best used as a read-aloud in a family where children and/or adults have ADD.–Wendy Smith-DArezzo, Loyola College, Baltimore, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. "You're like a toaster! You just pop up all the time." James Carville remembers his mother's exasperated comment in this inspiring book, which profiles 17 adults who began dealing with attention deficit disorder in childhood. Along with political strategist Carville, subjects include a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, a major league pitcher, and a young Rhodes scholar. If their life paths are diverse, their stories of struggle and miserable school days are strikingly similar. The authors, parents of ADD children, wanted to write a book about "real people who have struggled with ADD and won the match." Without sugarcoating the problems, their positive book presents concrete advice from happy, successful adults. The text is well designed for readers with ADD; short chapters are broken into sections delineated by lively headings that are printed in boldface type. A list of resources and an informative question-and-answer section round out an encouraging, helpful book for teens with ADD as well as for their parents, teachers, and friends. Lynn Rutan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802789889
• ISBN-13: 978-0802789884
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Children's Health > Learning Disorders

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be read by everyone with ADD, January 24, 2007

By 

Jim S (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Positively ADD: Real Success Stories to Inspire Your Dreams (Hardcover)

Excellent easy-to-read book about how various, successful people have managed their diagnosis of ADD. Everyone with the ADD label, especially children, should read this collection of stories to receive inspiration and learn that they are not alone. In the AA program, alcoholics share their stories of experience, strength, and hope. This book passes on the experience, strength, and hope of real people who have ADD or ADHD. It is written at a level that most kids would understand.

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is the only book of it's kind. If it wasn't this could be likely 3 stars., November 23, 2006

By 

Andy "Aspe Andy Female" (Short Hills, NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Positively ADD: Real Success Stories to Inspire Your Dreams (Hardcover)

This book didn't inspire me; I'm an Adult with ADD, and with other neorological special needs. And 16 out of 17 personal Adult ADD stories were of people with only diagnosed ADD/ADHD and no other special needs. The 16 also weren't diagnosed till adulthood as such encouraging mostly those without moderate to severe ADD symptoms and saying it's okay to be diagnosed late in life rather then earlier. It should have stories of people who struggled more and some more people with dual diagnosis. Preferably ones who were diagnosed earlier in life to. However, If you are defiantly without more then one or two special issues and may have not to severe ADD/ADHD this might be a very good book for you. It is written for children but, adults could definantly benifit from it also. And the author is one of the leader's in the feild. I love that it's hardback to! Not everyone's stories are of famous people which could be a good thing to. This specific format of this book is greatly needed. Positive success stories, however, it could be likely better.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars positive thinking, but it didn't really tell you how to overcome., April 7, 2011

By 

Preppy Jock (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Positively ADD: Real Success Stories to Inspire Your Dreams (Hardcover)

First of all, ADD is not a major disablity, such as blindness, deafness.

The few stories that I read were more like personal stories instead of how they overcome ADD. I was very interested in that plastic surgeon's story. I thought that it will tell me how he overcame his ADD and became a doctor,but he didn't realize that he had ADD long after he became a doctor.

As for that football (soccer) player's story, he has ADD, so he has a lot of problems at school. In the end, he became a football player. How inspiring is that?