October 9, 2012

9/31 Book give-away


Every day I am rewarded by the number of people who read my posts. I am thankful my experience of the mother of an extraordinary teenager can perhaps help others. I have been told a number of times there are lots of stories about younger children with down syndrome but not as many about teenagers.  

I wrote, "From Grief to Celebration, How One Family Learned to Embrace the Gift of Down Syndrome"  to share this story of love, life, magic and down syndrome. Our critically acclaimed book details our journey through ten verbs beginning with grief, ending with plan and incorporating one bonus verb, celebrate. I hope this can be a resource to help others embrace, understand and learn. The book is available through this blog,($12.50) on-line booksellers ($13.99) and kindle (reduced to $3.99 during October).

Michele Cozzens review is one of many:

I can't think of anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book, From Grief to Celebration: How One Family Learned to Embrace the Gift of Down Syndrome. It is extraordinarily well written from the heart of a mother with three children, including one who happens to have an extra chromosome.

The child--who is actually now a young woman--is named Alex. And through the pages of this book you'll fall in love with her. But I think even more, you'll fall in love with the author, Margaret "Gary" Bender. In these pages, Gary bares her soul. She shares every painful, joyful and revolutionary moment of her experience as a parent, and she does so not only out of love for Alex--and her family--but also out of what appears to be a need to advocate for all parents who have children with special needs.

This book must be added to the bibliography Gary provides in the chapter titled "Research," which includes a list of books she sought and read when Alex was born in 1993. If you indeed have a baby with Down syndrome, please put Gary's book at the top of your list. You will learn many things, but you will especially know that you are not alone; you will learn how to advocate; and you will learn to embrace and celebrate your child/situation. And as any parent will tell you, just like kids without special needs, our babies grow up very quickly. You will learn your Down syndrome child might not do everything like walk and talk and potty train according to what you thought was normal, but she/he will learn. And she/he will also teach YOU things you never imagined.

What makes this book additionally noteworthy for parents with and without children of special needs, is that Gary allows us to see how universal the experience of parenting truly is. In other words, I found Gary to be not only an advocate for parents of children with Down syndrome; but also, she helps us recognize and remember the individual needs of all children. In a particularly moving segment of the book, she shares the feelings of Alex's sister and brother. Her sister's college essay is well written and very moving.

The book--a quick read--is organized according to a list of verbs that Gary believes has defined their experience. As the title suggests, the verbs begin with "Grief" and culminate in "Celebration." The verbs she uses, numbered from 1-10 plus the bonus, are relatable to parenting and, frankly, life in general. I give this book my highest recommendation.



In honor of Down syndrome awareness month I will be publishing excerpts of each verb/chapter for the next 12 days and give-away three copies of the book, signed by Alex, at the end of the month. These are only two requirements to be entered in the drawing - and Alex will pick the winner!

1. Please like "The Ordinary Life of an Extraordinary Girl" on facebook (link on the sidebar), or
2. Follow this blog, on networked blogs (also on sidebar)

Of course, you will need to tell me you did this, either as a comment or by e-mail theextraordinarygirlllc@gmail.com .

Stay tuned
10/31 Book give-away: The Day that Rocked our World
11/31 Book give-away: Grief

6 comments:

  1. I think I've done this, oh the woes of the Internet. Its great for connecting, but just SO MANY ways to connect, and so many voices!!!

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    1. Thank you so much....I am so glad we have met through cyber space.

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  2. Would like to read your book! Liked and followed both on FB :) Thanks for the giveaway!

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  3. Yay! Your book is on my Amazon wishlist already. :) I'm hoping to get it for Christmas, but it would be great to win it beforehand. I liked the book on fb and followed by email (although I think I already follow in my google reader).

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