Review by Heidi at It's Just Me Heidi-D
Arielle sent me Lonely Girl, Gracious God - a lovely little non-fiction book, written by an inspirational woman named Lauri Khodabandehloo (say that three times fast)...
The story outlines the struggle of a mother (Lauri) whose youngest daughter (Farema) is born with autism during an era when little was understood about the disability. Lauri writes about the struggles she faced dealing with not only raising (and diagnosing) an autistic daughter and the guilt and doubts she felt - but also raising her three older daughters and supporting her husband in a blossoming restaurant business. In the book, Lauri talks in detail about how navigating through life led her closer and closer to God during a time in which many mothers might have lost their faith.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Lauri paints a picture of her beautiful daughter trapped within herself and their journey as a family to help Farema find her voice. As a reader you experience the desperation that Lauri must have felt as a mother advocating for her child's future, as well as her own!
My only criticism of this book is that there are no pictures of Farema. In a non-fiction read I always like to have an actual face to go along with the character. It makes my connection to them feel much more real. That said, I did visit the book's website - on which you can view photos and a video of some of the events described in the book.
Over all, I was pleased with this read. There are a number of people that I would recommend it to, most specifically the families that I know who live with autism. So much of what Lauri wrote about is illustrated in the stories that I hear from those families, and her words may be just what they need to get them through some of the difficult times - while giving them somebody to rejoice with during the good times!
Thank you to Bring It On! Communications for this opportunity!
To read more reviews like this one, go to Tell Us The Truth Reviews!
** I don't feel like I should have to say this, but I was advised to point out that I have not been compensated for this review. It is an honest opinion based on my experiences with Bring It On!, Tell Us The Truth Reviews, their employees as well as their products and authors.**
*Since the initial contact from Bring It On!, Arielle has been replaced by Kit Tosello. They have been wonderful to work with and I would highly recommend it!*
No comments:
Post a Comment