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Monday, October 31, 2011

the short bus review

As i mentioned before, I actually read the book "The Short Bus" by Jonathan Mooney.  Abby asked what i thought of it, so here goes.

I liked the first 1/3 of the book and the last chapter a lot.  But the book is kinda repetitious in its format.

Dude opens up talking about himself and why he was labeled different, and discusses all the pain it cuased, then he talked to a kid similar to him and talks about his journey, and you pull for the kid, although, you never know how they turned out.

The books starts out with kids that are labeled learning disabled and it is kinda addressing the whole labeling thing.  Do we need to label the kids, or are the kids treated differently because they're labeled.

But it evolves into something else entirely.  Towards the end the stories are 1. painful, 2. hopeless to me. The characters at the end have disabilities that are not just labels they're physical ailments or handicaps or whatever.

Not that i am trying to minimize add, or adhd, or dyslecsia, but peopel with those disorders can blend into society if only for a minute.  A blind and deaf child can not, is all i am trying to say.

Anyway, the last few chapters of the book, you read and you feel bad and the chapter ends, and then you think WTF, now what, you want them to be okay and to lives happily ever after, but I doubt they will be.

So the message of the book was good, the intent of the book was good, and overall i say it is book, but the book made me think, society sucks while at the same time thinking there is nothing one can do about it.

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