Need suggestions for books for my kid!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:59 am

I was sort of wondering where you were going with the quote alone.

My point was mostly about his valuation of the book.
He said it was the best single book he ever read.
A large number of other authors also back this up.

All of this sounds very baffling.
I've seen a few different variations, especially among other tbi survivors.

The missing 3 out of 10 thing is baffling, but maybe it is to you too?

When I was first asked to analyze books, I couldn't do it.
It felt like a learning disability, but everyone works differently.
Apparently I don't experience books the same way some do.
I couldn't parse a book I read intensely.
It became all one experience for me.
Of course, i was reading 5-10 books a week then, and the flow intensifies the more you read, just as if I pick up a comic book after not reading one for a long time, it all seems wooden at first.
Maybe it had something to do with age, but others had no trouble with it.
I still like to think the teacher was an idiot.
I can still see no purpose to the exercise.

I hope with all the rapid development in this area of acience, with scans and other new techniques, they understand how to help him.

delle · Post by **delle** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:04 pm

C.f.M. wrote: Oh, and Christopher Moore's books fall under fantastical (not "fantasy"). Never read a Moore I didn't like. The CD of Fluke make me laugh out loud in my car.

Its ALL good. If you think it's worth mentionning, mention it, PLEASE!!!

AntiM. wrote:to know him is to love him

Personally I find quirky folk much more interesting than the non-quirky variety. Having culled our social circle to include just the "cream", we've found ourselves quite often of late sitting there shaking our heads at just how strange this bunch is. I'd bet the farm that not one of us would get off diagnosis-free if ever tested.

C.f.M. · Post by **C.f.M.** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:37 pm

Well, if graphic novels are his thing there's certainly a plethora of options and the Sandman series and it's off-shoots are where I'd start.

delle · Post by **delle** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:48 pm

gyre wrote:I was sort of wondering where you were going with the quote alone.

Yeah, that was just plain weird, wasn't it? Little "oops" moment for me there, sorry about that. Thankfully it was easily fixed.

I thought perhaps you'd surmised from my earlier "bit of a learning disability" comment that he also suffered from dyslexia, and wanted to just add a bit more information about what was really going on.

And yes, there's some tbi in the mix as well. He was a very unstable toddler with an oversized head (hence the "four car garage" I now have as a vagina, but that's another story). He's had several bad headstrikes, two of which were quite serious. Add to that dozens of life-threateningly high fevers, and you get the picture.... He did not have an easy beginning.

I'm very very curious about this book your friend recommends, but have to admit that "History of the World", out of context and without an author, is giving me no love atall as a google search. Do you suppose you could ask him for a little more information there?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:05 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outline_of_History
note links to text

http://openlibrary.org/works/OL52264W/T ... of_history

http://openlibrary.org/works/OL52254W/A ... _the_world

http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL13066A/H._G._Wells

delle · Post by **delle** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:29 pm

Beautiful. Thanks Gyre!

I've found and downloaded it as a PDF file, and am flipping thru it now. I have to agree.... the style is as easy as a conversation. Which is pretty surprising for a history book!

I can't see him reading this from start to finish, but I can certainly see him using it as a tool.

....that is, if he can get it out of my husband's hands. Him, I see devouring this one!!!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:42 pm

Happy to.

Note that there are many updated versions, and I think I saw a large print.

I would have killed for book access like this as a kid.
I even dreamed of a system like this.

I had access to the public library and two university libraries, and I stll found it frustrating.
It's far worse with technical material.

VeganChoirGirl · Post by **VeganChoirGirl** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:48 pm

C.f.M. wrote: Redwall series by Brian Jacques

OMMMMGGGG! I totally forgot Redwall! Good freaking call, CFM.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:00 pm

AntiM wrote:MyLarry has "adult verbal retention disorder" ... sort of like ADHD with dyslexia. But not. High intelligence which cannot be measured on an academic scale, but wildly off the charts when given alternative non-traditional intelligence tests. Yes, there is the WTF factor with MyLarry, but to know him is to love him.

I like the "multiple intelligences" approach. Unfortunately, this "iq" shit was started by academics, who know a lot, but not everything, and they often don't really get people smart in ways they themselves aren't smart.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:04 pm

The teacher certification program I went through had us take a class on multiple intelligences. Fascinating. However, implementing it as a teaching tool, in a public school is next to impossible, given the emphasis on standardized testing.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:09 pm

Public school sucks. It sucked when I was a kid, and everything I see indicates that it is only getting worse.

And gott, I hate it when people make statements like that, so I must really believe it to say so.

Fufa · Post by **Fufa** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:49 pm

Oooh oooh I almost forgot!

Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (the trilogy of 4) by Douglas Adams!

Box Burner · Post by **Box Burner** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:11 pm

delle wrote:
His problem isn't so much dyslexia as something they're now calling a "non verbal learning disability" tinged with shades of aspergers.

He's been jacked to the top of waiting lists for specialized treatment and (perhaps... I'm not sure about this one yet) a special school, which is actually considered an outpatient "wing" of the hospital system, and psychiatric care for the anxiety and depression. The only important word in that whole paragraph tho is "WAITING". We've been waiting for one step or another in this process since he was about 3.

He's intelligent enough for sure. --- but is missing on average 3 of any 10 blocks necessary to "KNOW" something, which leaves people who meet him in mode if they talk with him long enough. Especially if he's got comments on the upper levels of an idea but no clue whatsoever to the basic levels.

He loves to read, and will rave about books he likes and re-read them over and over, but can not explain to you what the book is about, even after having read them several times. (neuro-psy says left and right hemispheres aren't communicating properly)

It would all be so very mysterious if it weren't so damned familiar. He's his mother's son, alright!!!

Edit to add EVERYTHING!!! lmao. (went back to get the quote and ended up posting it without my message, dammit!)

It could be just the way he reads. When I was in my teens I was the same way. I would read a book and afterwards I could only tell you that they built a space ship in their back yard, went to the moon and defeated the Nazis (Rocket Ship Galileo - Robert Heinlein, 1947), and that I thought it was a great book. What I was doing, was experiencing the moment as I read, going from one moment to the next throughout the book. At the end what I had was a feeling almost like having participated in an adventure. Read that book the first time when I was 10 or 11. Reread it many times over the next 4 or 5 years. Each time was like reading it fresh (but with anticipation) because I could not remember the details. As I read more and more books, particularly hard science fiction, I tended to analyze as I read and thus remember details.

Of course, that is my experience.

YMMV

BoxB

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:25 pm

I tend to fuzz read details also, unless I am studying purposefully. Can't do quotes unless I make an effort. I read Lord of the Rings at ten, forgot I had, then read it as a teen and was enchanted that I liked the book so much I anticipated everything! Then my brother reminded me I'd read it seven years before.

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:58 pm

Even cowgirls get the blues is a beautiful story which I cannot recall at all, except there was this girl with a REALLY BIG THUMB and boy could she hitchike.

any Brautigan will lift one from depression

HORSE CHILD BREAKFAST
Horse child breakfast
what are you doing to me?
with your long blonde legs?
with your long blonde face?
with your long blonde hair?
with your perfect blonde ass?

I swear Iâ€™ll never be the
same again!

Horse child breakfast,
what youâ€™re doing to me,
I want done forever.

Michner, Hawaii and The Source both books over 1000 pages.

lucifer's hammer was a great read, Ygmir this book is situated in your area of the world if I remember.

MyDearFriend · Post by **MyDearFriend** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:37 pm

Oh thanks wedeliver, you just reminded me!

Steven Brust, Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill

Doesn't matter if you can't remember plot details because it's the shape of the plot that's the real treat. Short chapters, amazing characters, and the protagonist is utterly confused through the whole book... really great.

And it you like that, you can go on to Brust's Vlad Taltos books...

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:45 pm

I second Vlad Taltos, except I wasn't quite sure about the age level thing. Although, I'd guess, thinking about it, that it's not incomprehensible when read young, you just might miss some of the nuance. And considering how many times I've read the older ones (and I've just re-read many of them--waiting for my copy of Phoenix to show up) there's plenty of time gather nuance with later readings, if he likes it.

C.f.M. · Post by **C.f.M.** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 6:32 am

wedeliver wrote:Even cowgirls get the blues is a beautiful story which I cannot recall at all, except there was this girl with a REALLY BIG THUMB and boy could she hitchike.

any Brautigan will lift one from depression

HORSE CHILD BREAKFAST
Horse child breakfast
what are you doing to me?
with your long blonde legs?
with your long blonde face?
with your long blonde hair?
with your perfect blonde ass?

I swear Iâ€™ll never be the
same again!

Horse child breakfast,
what youâ€™re doing to me,
I want done forever.

Michner, Hawaii and The Source both books over 1000 pages.

lucifer's hammer was a great read, Ygmir this book is situated in your area of the world if I remember.

He's not a hippie.

ECGTB is the worst Tom Robbins novel. Skinny Legs and All and Jitterbug Perfume - the latter having the talking can, I think - no, that's Still Life with Wood Pecker, well, I loved Tom Robbins in high school but they might not be "cool" enough for a fantasy/graphic novel lover.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:01 pm

Tracy's Tiger by William Saroyan

simple and beautiful

Tracy has a tiger that follows him around, that others can't see.
Stuff happens.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:21 pm

Somehow transforming into a live version of DuPree, Savannah wrote:... read the Girl Genius graphic novel online for free ... Page one is here: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104...

Thanks, Savannah... I REALLY owe you one. Arrghhh... Never heard of it before, and now... well...

Guess what I've been sucked into gotten interested in the past few days... Can't... put... it... down... HELLLPPPppppppppp.........
Really... it's quite rather good...

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:44 pm

the "I, Robot" series (different author each book)

anything Allen Dean Foster...

the rebbi

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:01 am

There was a series of stories about pilots using cats for navigation.
I think this is one of them, not sure.

Catacombs : a tale of the Barque cats / Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.

If you think cat related fantasy/sf would be of interest, i ran across a few, though I haven't read most of them.
Norton wrote some.

I met the scifi singer that raises prehensile six toed kitties.
She is interesting.
Can't recall the name, of course.

C.f.M. · Post by **C.f.M.** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:31 am

50% off (60% off starting next week) graphic novels

http://www.tfaw.com/Graphic-Novels

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:36 am

I ran across a scifi book rental place online, if that interests anyone.

Ever heard of such a thing?

C.f.M. · Post by **C.f.M.** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:55 am

gyre wrote:I ran across a scifi book rental place online, if that interests anyone.

Ever heard of such a thing?

I don't remember any of the names, but there's at least one online book swap...where you can trade books with others.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:05 am

I could have used something like that for comics.

When I started buying comics again, the monthly total that Comic Buyer's kept track of, was around $20-30.
Last time I checked it was over a thousand a month and climbing.
So much diversification.

delle · Post by **delle** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:24 pm

C.f.M. wrote:50% off (60% off starting next week) graphic novels

http://www.tfaw.com/Graphic-Novels

FANTASTIC!!!! Thank you!!!!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 1:01 pm

delle wrote: Personally I find quirky folk much more interesting than the non-quirky variety. Having culled our social circle to include just the "cream", we've found ourselves quite often of late sitting there shaking our heads at just how strange this bunch is. I'd bet the farm that not one of us would get off diagnosis-free if ever tested.

The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.
Alfred Adler

a figment · Post by **a figment** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 6:36 pm

I will add just one the spellsinger series by allen dean foster, kind of light but enjoyable,
there aree so many good series listed it would be hard for me to pick one to start with, let alone advise which one some one else might enjoy,
good luck if you need help finding anything in a series or specific book, let us know i am sure we will all try to help find whats needed.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:12 am

Has he tried audio books?

I know music connects to a different part of the brain with some people.
I don't know if the audio books do the same,