Title search results
Showing 241 - 260 of 859 items
The world at his fingertips: a story about Louis Braille (Carolrhoda creative minds biography)
By Barbara O'Connor. 1997
A biography of Frenchman Louis Braille (1809-1852), who was accidentally blinded as a child and who as a teenager developed…
an alphabet of raised dots. Relates his struggle to gain government backing for the reading and writing system that is now called "braille" in his honor. For grades 3-6. 1997Surpassing expectations: my life without sight
By Lawrence Scadden. 2008
Autobiography of California-born (1939) Scadden, who was blinded at age five. Describes his career as a research psychologist with a…
doctorate degree. Discusses his work in developing assistive technology for visually impaired people and promoting science education. Examines the effects of blindness, Scadden's personal development, and his experiences abroad. 2008Growing up again: life, loves, and oh yeah, diabetes
By Mary Tyler Moore. 2009
The former sitcom actress recounts her experiences with juvenile diabetes, which was diagnosed during a miscarriage. Now the chairman of…
the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Moore acknowledges that her past lack of attention to glucose control resulted in vision and foot problems. Includes facts about diabetes and resources. 2009Crystal clear: the inspiring story of how an Olympic athlete lost his legs due to crystal meth and found a better life
By Davin Seay, Eric LeMarque, Eric Le Marque. 2009
Former professional hockey player recounts his post-career addiction to methamphetamine ("speed"). Describes becoming stranded in 2004 for eight days in…
subfreezing temperatures in the Sierra Nevada. Discusses the amputation of his frostbitten feet and later his legs below the knee and relates his newfound belief in God. 2009Seven wheelchairs: a life beyond polio
By Gary Presley. 2008
Memoir of essayist paralyzed by polio in 1959. Describes his stay in an iron lung and return--in a wheelchair--to his…
family's Missouri farm, where he recuperated physically but struggled emotionally. Chronicles the feelings he experienced while building an independent life and coming to terms with disability. Some strong language. 2008Ten degrees of reckoning: a true story of a family's love and the will to survive
By Hester Rumberg, Judith Sleavin. 2009
Rumberg describes the 1993 ordeal of her friends the Sleavin family, whose around-the-world voyage violently ended when a ship rammed…
their small sailing boat. Details Judith's rescue after her husband and two young children died, and recounts the beginning of Judith's healing process. 2009The unheard: a memoir of deafness and Africa (A Holt paperback)
By Josh Swiller. 2007
Swiller, who lost his hearing during childhood, describes joining the Peace Corps at age twenty-three "to find a place," he…
says, "past deafness." Recounts his two-year stint and his attempts to improve conditions in a remote Zambian village plagued by poverty, disease, and violence. Strong language and some violence. 2007China ghosts: my daughter's journey to America, my passage to fatherhood
By Jeff Gammage. 2007
Reporter recalls the emotional experience he and his wife shared when adopting two girls from China. Describes meeting their first…
daughter, Jin Yu, in Changsha and their initial anxiety over her health. Examines his mixed emotions toward the parents who abandoned Jin Yu and the orphanage that housed her. 2007She touched the world: Laura Bridgman, deaf-blind pioneer
By Sally Hobart Alexander. 2008
Biography of Laura Bridgman (1829-1889), the first deaf-blind child to receive a formal education--decades before Helen Keller. Discusses the causes…
of Laura's deaf-blindness at age two; her sponsorship at Perkins Institution; and her success at learning manual sign language. For grades 4-7. 2008Abrazar el éxito: la autobiografía de quien transformó la adversidad en un camino de superación constante
By Adriana Macías, Adriana Macias. 2007
A woman born without arms reflects on her struggles, successes, and basic philosophy of life. A memoir of both handicap…
and ability, the book focuses on familial support and optimism in overcoming life's setbacks. Spanish language. 2007Triumph over darkness: the life of Louis Braille (Ulverscroft Large Print Ser.)
By Lennard Bickel. 1989
Biography of Frenchman Louis Braille (1809-1852), who perfected a raised-dot alphabet code named in his honor when he was only…
fifteen. Discusses the development of the system of reading and writing that opened the world of learning for blind people. 1988Against medical advice: a true story
By James Patterson, Hal Friedman, Cory Friedman. 2008
Describes Cory Friedman's struggle from age five with a complex case of Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety. Details his…
worsening symptoms despite multiple medications. Chronicles Friedman's decision to stop the drugs and turn to other therapies, including tic-reversal training, which brought him relief in his late teens. Bestseller. 2008Once a marine: an Iraq War tank commander's inspirational memoir of combat, courage, and recovery
By Nick Popaditch, Mike Steere. 2008
Gunnery Sergeant Nick Popaditch recalls his military career commanding tanks in the Middle East. Describes pitched battles before a 2004…
attack in Fallujah, Iraq, led to his medical discharge with losses of sight, hearing, and balance. Highlights his adjustment to a new life. Violence and strong language. 2008Reading lips: and other ways to overcome a disability
By Diane Scharper. 2008
Diane Scharper, a member of the National Book Critics Circle, and ophthalmologist Philip Scharper Jr. present twenty-nine winners from the…
Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education memoir competition. Contributors from all over the world describe, in prose and poetry, overcoming life-altering disabilities ranging from blindness to cancer. 2008Rachel in the world: a memoir
By Jane Bernstein. 2007
Mother recounts raising her daughter Rachel, born with optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH), a disease that causes blindness, mental retardation, and…
seizure disorder. Discusses Rachel's challenges between ages five and twenty-one in pursuing independence and decries the inadequacy of government support. Sequel to Loving Rachel (RC 28065). Some strong language. 2007Manic: a memoir
By Terri Cheney. 2008
Former Beverly Hills lawyer Cheney describes her lifelong battle to come to terms with bipolar disorder. Discusses her mood swings,…
erratic behavior, suicidal feelings, and the bliss of hypomania. Covers electroshock therapy, medication adjustments, and a life lived in extremes. Some violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2008Nacido en un día azul
By Daniel Tammet, Miguel Portillo. 2007
Autobiography of Daniel Tammet, a twenty-six-year-old British savant with Asperger's syndrome and synesthesia, who can perform rapid memorization and mathematical…
calculations and learn an unfamiliar language in days. Describes his mainstream education, impoverished childhood with eight siblings, and adult life as a gay Christian. Spanish language. 2007Guide dogs and guns: America's first blind marksman fires back
By Carey McWilliams. 2007
Autobiography of concealed-weapons permit holder Carey McWilliams (b. 1973), blind since age ten. Describes his civilian and military weapons training,…
the shooting qualifying exams, and the ensuing Second Amendment debate. Discusses his passion for scuba diving, his guide dogs, and his wife, Victoria. Some strong language. 2007Warm Springs: traces of a childhood at FDR's polio haven
By Susan Richards Shreve. 2007
Novelist's account of her childhood with polio. Describes entering the Georgia Warm Springs Polio Foundation at age eleven in 1950,…
the care she received there, the personnel and patients she befriended, and getting kicked out two years later because of her preadolescent high jinks. 2007Wilma Rudolph: a biography (Greenwood Biographies Ser.)
By Maureen Margaret Smith, Maureen M. Smith. 2006
Biography of African American athlete Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994), who won Olympic track medals in 1956 and 1960 after triumphing over…
childhood polio. Highlights Rudolph's family life in the segregated South and her post-Olympic struggles against racism and sexism. For senior high readers. 2006