From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9?When Sally Hobart was 24 and an active third-grade teacher, she discovered that she was going blind. Here she describes her feelings when she learned what was happening to her, her relationships with friends during this time, and her activities and emotions at a rehabilitation center while learning to maneuver in a sighted world. She doesn't cut any corners in describing her hurt and anger at her boyfriend's reaction to her pending disability, or in expressing her appreciation of her family and college roommates. As readers leave her finding a job and determined to get an apartment and live on her own, they can almost see a sequel coming. Those who have followed the author's story in her picture books Mom Can't See Me (1990) and Mom's Best Friend (1992, both Macmillan) will gain further insight into her life. The book flows well and young people will be sure to get caught up in the events.?Margaret C. Howell, West Springfield Elementary School, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. Alexander's story of her adjustment to blindness reads like a gripping suspense novel. She was a perfectly healthy third-grade teacher when she first noticed a black line flit across her eye and disappear. After a series of doctor appointments, temporary vision losses, and hospital stays, she gradually realized that at some point she would be completely blind. She began to learn Braille and eventually checked into a center to learn new life skills. Her emphasis is not on the hospitals and the rehab center but on coming to grips with her disability and all the accompanying emotions of fear, anger, despair, and acceptance. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend is realistically and poignantly portrayed. Since the ending downplays the serious obstacles she has yet to face, the story is uplifting, and readers will find the pages turning quickly. Although intended for a much younger audience, Alexander's Mom Can't See Me (1990), in which life with a blind mother is described by her nine-year-old daughter and shown in photos by George Ancona, may interest readers of this autobiographical account. Susan DeRonne
