- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1 edition (Mar 2 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1565126114
- ISBN-13: 978-1565126114
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 612 g
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#538,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #54 in Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > Single Parents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"An unforgettable memoir of a shattered family, a mother's abiding love, and the frightening permutations of the human mind." --Elle (Elle Magazine )
"A gripping memoir of motherly love and absolute devotion." --Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews )
"This is her gripping account of that unrelenting battle. It isn't a medical thriller that climaxes with an 11th-hour cure. The light of its happy ending burns low, but in this courageous mother's eyes it shines as bright as the sun." --Boston Globe (Boston Globe )
"A gripping memoir of motherly love and absolute devotion." --Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews )
"This is her gripping account of that unrelenting battle. It isn't a medical thriller that climaxes with an 11th-hour cure. The light of its happy ending burns low, but in this courageous mother's eyes it shines as bright as the sun." --Boston Globe (Boston Globe )
Review
"A brave and beautiful story by a born writer . . . This book is like a beacon, offering clarity, inspiration, and validation for us all, especially those of us, like myself, who have struggled with serious mental illness in our families . . . and that s two out of every five families in the United States." Lee Smith
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and Heartbreaking, Mar 19 2010
By Melisande D. Timblin "Melisande Timblin" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes: A Mother's Story (Hardcover)
When I picked up this book, intending to simply glance through the first few pages, I found myself instantly drawn into Dr. Randi Davenport's finely spun world, and was unable to put the book down until I had finished it. Riveting, painful, and, ultimately, inspiring, this is an incredible book. It is a story worth telling, as well as a story well told.Davenport has found the courage to chronicle her son's illness without any melodramatic embellishments or overwrought appeals to the reader. Her story is told in a frank, stark, and oddly beautiful style that at once makes her overwhelming love for her children plain, though she does not attempt to paint herself as a heroine or as anything other than a mother struggling to do the best for her kids in an impossible situation.
I have read many memoirs in which forgettable writing is made up for by an interesting story, and others in which a rather boring, ordinary narrative is rendered memorable through the use of skilled writing. This falls into neither of those categories.
The Boy Who Loves Tornadoes is one of those rare memoirs in which a truly captivating story is brought to life by a talented writer. Davenport's prose is spare, gorgeous, and incredibly affecting. This moving story of her son's illness, her daughter's sadness, and the desintegration of their family plays out like a feature film, with characters so well drawn that they appear in the reader's head.
The structure of the book pulls the reader along like a pair of speeding trains, with scenes from the present interspersed with memories from the past, until the two timelines crash together and create one heartbreakingly clear picture of a child in crisis.
This is a book written by a mother about her children and her attempts to do her best for both of them, especially her son, who is diagnosed with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Yet this book will not appeal merely to the parents of children with special needs, or the parents of any children, or to people who love someone with a disability. This book speaks to the humanity and the ability to love that is inside all of us. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved anyone else. Period.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Be prepared to be truly moved by this story, Mar 15 2010
By Gay Perez - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes: A Mother's Story (Hardcover)
This is truly a riveting book. Once I started it, I could not put it down. Everyone has a story to tell or so the saying goes, but none like the story that Randi Davenport tells in her new book, The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes. This author's journey through life as a wife and mother of two children who is forced to face the devastating impact of mental illness in her own family when her husband abandons them due to his own mental incapacity and leaves her alone to raise and care for a daughter and son who has debilitating mental health issues of his own. This beautifully written story is a true testament, in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, of perseverance, persistence, and positive possibilities for the future. Readers will ride a tidal wave of emotion ranging from love and optimism, to anger and despair, back to triumph and hope for our society. Mental illness can no longer be kept behind closed doors nor can it be the responsibility of the parent alone to care for their family members or maneuver through our health care system. If this book does one thing it reinforces that every child is truly a gift in their own unique way. Each child offers value and worth to the human experience.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A captivating read, Mar 10 2010
By Virginia Taylor - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes: A Mother's Story (Hardcover)
The writing is beautiful and exquisite. Davenport's honesty enables the reader to find herself in the story, even though the story she tells is uniquely her own. I expected to be drawn in by the story, but the writing has captivated me. She has a gift.
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