Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs (Paperback)

~ Suzanne Kamata (Author)
Key Phrases: Brenda Kay, Father Manuel, Nick Tucci (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

" . . . a reminder of life's changeability; surprises occur and parents persevere, even in seemingly fixed situations."

"Even for readers who are not parenting one of the 8 million babies born worldwide each year with genetic birth defects, this anthology offers something profound. The stories and poems collected here demonstrate vividly that it's in caring for others that we discover our truest humanity."

Product Description

The first collection of literary writing on raising a child with special needs, Love You to Pieces features families coping with autism, deafness, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome and more. Here, poets, memoirists, and fiction writers paint beautiful, wrenchingly honest portraits of caring for their children, laying bare the moments of rage, disappointment, and guilt that can color their relationships. Parent-child communication can be a challenge at the best of times, but in this collection we witness the struggles and triumphs of those who speak their own language—or don’t speak at all—and those who love them deeply.

“Powerful, unflinching, and beautifully rendered, Love You to Pieces is not just an anthology about raising children with special needs, but true literature. Many parents will find moving depictions of a reality they know so well. Others with no knowledge of this world will find a literary experience they'll never forget.” —Rachel Simon, author of Riding the Bus with My Sister

“Love You To Pieces is a unique reading experience: raw, moving, provocative and compelling. The stories are beautifully told, from many different backgrounds and perspectives, but taken together share a common and ultimately triumphant connecting thread: love conquers all.” —Daniel Tammet, author of Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant

"Love You To Pieces is groundbreaking. Our public discourse about disability is dominated by the voices of medical professionals and fix-your-child tomes. These stories elevate the experience of people with disabilities to the level of literature. Love You To Pieces bears witness to cognitive and physical difference as an essential and beautiful fact of human experience. It is a must buy book for anyone who parents, educates, or supports young people with disabilities." —Jonathan Mooney, author of The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal

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Product Details Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Beacon Press (May 14, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0807000302 ISBN-13: 978-0807000304 Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #410,934 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Brenda Kay, Father Manuel, Nick Tucci, Magic Affinities, Termite's Birthday, Happy Trails, The Lives of the Saints, Speaking of Love, Ordinary Time, Great Expectations, Reading My Son, The Heart Speaks, Joyful Noise, Mickey Mouse, United States, Saint Anthony, Montauk Point, Little Bear, Michael Stoehr, New York, Great-Aunt Soma

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	60% buy the item featured on this page: Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs 4.2 out of 5 stars (9) $11.21
	24% buy This Lovely Life 4.9 out of 5 stars (17) $10.04
	6% buy Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs: Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities 4.8 out of 5 stars (27) $10.17
	5% buy The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs 4.8 out of 5 stars (45) $8.78

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews 5 star:  (5) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.2 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Honest thoughts on Raising a Special Needs Child, April 20, 2008 By  Kaeli Vandertulip (Irving, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Love you to Pieces is a collection of honest, raw, and emotional stories and poems about raising a special needs child. The disabilities the children have range from Fragile X and autism to Downs Syndrome and unspecified mental retardation. Rather than focus completely on the bad or the good, the mothers, fathers, and caretakers in these stories explain life in its small parts. They explain everyday things like trying to figure out what the speech delayed child wants right now to coming to terms with faith. Every stage in raising a special needs child is examines, from premature birth (and there are many in this book) to coping with sexuality. The quality of stories is a bit uneven-some are touching and scream with their emotion. Some are just dull. But what is touching to one parent can leave another cold. I was actually comforted by the scene of a mother so frustrated with her autistic daughter she actually beat her (made me feel like I wasn't that bad for punching the crap out of my pillow when my son gets to me), but it annoyed me to read about how one mother not only raised her child with spina bifida, but helped a mentally retarded child as a form of penence (though I did love it when she started whailing on cabinetry). This realistic look into the minds of the parent of special needs children is an excellent read for special ed teachers, parents, or anyone who should know how a parent copes. I would have liked to see more from the perspective of the fathers, though. And I hope this book inspires more publishers to produce works like this. I'm torn between wanting to just read about other parents dealing with autism and wanting to see the perspective of the other parents I meet at Special Ed night at my son's school. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for any parent, July 15, 2008 By  Sonya Huber-Humes "Sonya H" (Statesboro, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Suzanne Kamata's anthology offers a cross-genre and literary look into the heads and hearts of parents who work to raise children with special needs as they work to understand or accept their children's conditions, to challenge and accept views and needs of other family members, and to deal with social isolation and cultural silence about disability. What I most appreciated about this volume is the emotional range and vulnerability of the authors. In sharing their experiences, they raise larger social questions not just about disability but about the "normal" we all live in--as in Marie Myung-Ok Lee's excellent essay "Normal." The literary quality of the selections is impressive, including authors such as Bret Lott and Jayne Anne Phillips; I found the poetry to be of particularly high quality and insight. It would be a mistake to see this as a book compiled for those raising children with special needs. Most parents--and most humans--must face deep fears about losing the abilities and mobilities that give us access to the range of these so-called normal human experience. For this reason, the poems, stories, and essays in Kamata's anthology will speak to any reader from a place of profound honesty, insight, and subtlety. Not a cup of comfort here, but a strong swallow of intelligence and perseverance. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Yet Honest, April 30, 2008 By  L. Lynette Mejia (Lafayette, LA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs is a beautiful tribute the the lives of parents who every day deal with the fact that their lives have taken a different turn than planned. With stories and poems by Bret Lott, Carol Zapata-Whelan, Michael Berube and more, Suzanne Kamata has collected experiences from a wide range of disabilities, reflecting a broad set of emotions. Some of the stories told are fiction, some non-fiction, but each gives voice to the day-to-day lives of these families in an artful and unique way. As the parent of a special needs child, I find myself constantly seeking out books containing the comforting voices of others who deal with the same challenges I do, and this book is a welcome addition to my collection.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A varied collection, well worth reading This varied collection of descriptive essays completely held my interest for the two days it took me to read it; as a special needs parent, I found the subject matter fascinating,... Read more Published 3 months ago by Mary Lee Moser 5.0 out of 5 stars Love You to Pieces As a pediatric nursing instructor and mother of a child with special needs, this is by far the very best book ever on describing the love, laughter and tears of very precious... Read more Published 4 months ago by J. Johnson 5.0 out of 5 stars well-chosen,eclectic anthology - not for the faint of heart Wonderful anthology of mostly non-fiction pieces about caring for a special needs child, organized not by theme or date of publication but by age of the child - from birth through... Read more Published 7 months ago by YinYang 1.0 out of 5 stars terrible book This book was awful. It took all i could do to finish it. The stories are not about their children it is about themselves. Read more Published 13 months ago by Amy Rounds 5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent collection This is a wonderful collection of varied voices writing about parenting special needs children. I enjoyed the mix of essays, fiction, and poetry from mother- and father-writers;... Read more Published 15 months ago by Caroline M. Grant 4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book This is a wonderful book, particularly the opening essay by Vicki Forman. The essays are comforting for anyone who has a child with special healthcare needs, but they are smart... Read more Published 17 months ago by Elizabeth Aquino Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Literature on Raising a Child with Special Needs: A list by Suzanne Kamata   Parenting a Special Needs Child: Books for the Journey: A list by Rebekah L. Sprecher   Books by BRAIN, CHILD Magazine Contributors: A list by Jennifer L. Niesslein Create a Listmania! list

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (May 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807000302
• ISBN-13: 978-0807000304
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #410,934 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Honest thoughts on Raising a Special Needs Child, April 20, 2008

By	Kaeli Vandertulip (Irving, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Love you to Pieces is a collection of honest, raw, and emotional stories and poems about raising a special needs child. The disabilities the children have range from Fragile X and autism to Downs Syndrome and unspecified mental retardation. Rather than focus completely on the bad or the good, the mothers, fathers, and caretakers in these stories explain life in its small parts. They explain everyday things like trying to figure out what the speech delayed child wants right now to coming to terms with faith. Every stage in raising a special needs child is examines, from premature birth (and there are many in this book) to coping with sexuality.

The quality of stories is a bit uneven-some are touching and scream with their emotion. Some are just dull. But what is touching to one parent can leave another cold. I was actually comforted by the scene of a mother so frustrated with her autistic daughter she actually beat her (made me feel like I wasn't that bad for punching the crap out of my pillow when my son gets to me), but it annoyed me to read about how one mother not only raised her child with spina bifida, but helped a mentally retarded child as a form of penence (though I did love it when she started whailing on cabinetry).

This realistic look into the minds of the parent of special needs children is an excellent read for special ed teachers, parents, or anyone who should know how a parent copes. I would have liked to see more from the perspective of the fathers, though. And I hope this book inspires more publishers to produce works like this. I'm torn between wanting to just read about other parents dealing with autism and wanting to see the perspective of the other parents I meet at Special Ed night at my son's school.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for any parent, July 15, 2008

By	Sonya Huber-Humes "Sonya H" (Statesboro, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Suzanne Kamata's anthology offers a cross-genre and literary look into the heads and hearts of parents who work to raise children with special needs as they work to understand or accept their children's conditions, to challenge and accept views and needs of other family members, and to deal with social isolation and cultural silence about disability. What I most appreciated about this volume is the emotional range and vulnerability of the authors. In sharing their experiences, they raise larger social questions not just about disability but about the "normal" we all live in--as in Marie Myung-Ok Lee's excellent essay "Normal." The literary quality of the selections is impressive, including authors such as Bret Lott and Jayne Anne Phillips; I found the poetry to be of particularly high quality and insight.
It would be a mistake to see this as a book compiled for those raising children with special needs. Most parents--and most humans--must face deep fears about losing the abilities and mobilities that give us access to the range of these so-called normal human experience. For this reason, the poems, stories, and essays in Kamata's anthology will speak to any reader from a place of profound honesty, insight, and subtlety. Not a cup of comfort here, but a strong swallow of intelligence and perseverance.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Yet Honest, April 30, 2008

By	L. Lynette Mejia (Lafayette, LA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs is a beautiful tribute the the lives of parents who every day deal with the fact that their lives have taken a different turn than planned. With stories and poems by Bret Lott, Carol Zapata-Whelan, Michael Berube and more, Suzanne Kamata has collected experiences from a wide range of disabilities, reflecting a broad set of emotions. Some of the stories told are fiction, some non-fiction, but each gives voice to the day-to-day lives of these families in an artful and unique way. As the parent of a special needs child, I find myself constantly seeking out books containing the comforting voices of others who deal with the same challenges I do, and this book is a welcome addition to my collection.