I'm a book reviewer for Bring It On Communications, and the latest book I was sent to review was, Lonely Girl, Gracious God, written by Lauri Khodabandehloo. Lauri is a Chicken Soup for the Soul contributor and is a big supporter of the autism community. The book was published by Deep River Books in 2011.
Lonely Girl, Gracious God is all about Lauri, her daughter Farema(who has autism), and the rest of her family. This book takes a very open and honest look at the struggles of a child with autism and also the struggles of the family trying their best to support her. The story starts at the very beginning of Farema's life when her mother found out she was pregnant with her. It takes you step by step through Farema's life and all of the signs that led her to be diagnosed with autism and all the many steps that were taken after that diagnosis to help her live as normal a life as possible. The book also shows how hard Lauri and her family had to work in order to get Farema the medical attention, school care, and social needs taken care of. Throughout the process we see how precious Farema is to her family and how much they love her. Farema's family struggles with each other and outsiders as they work every day to get her needs met. Lauri is a wonderful advocate for her daughter and always relies on God to help her get through the rough times. The book ends with a "Happy Ending," which is a tremendous chapter that shows how much the author herself has grown spiritually and emotionally as a mom, a wife, and a woman as she helped her daughter grow up.
I enjoyed this book very much from the first chapter all the way to the last. I've been around kids with autism as a volunteer in my children's classrooms, a substitute teacher, and my husband's cousin has a child with autism, so this book definitely gave me a different perspective. I will have a much better idea how to deal with an autistic child the next time I'm in the classroom or the next time I see my husband's cousin. I really admire the author for her dedication to her daughter and also to the rest of her family. Lauri is a wonderful example of a Proverbs 31 woman. I've learned a lot from her on how to be a better mom and wife.
If you would like to read Lonely Girl, Gracious God for yourself, the ISBN number is:
ISBN-10 1-935265-46-6, ISBN-13 9781935265467. You can buy it at amazon.com for $9-$12.
If anyone has every read this book before, what did you think about it?Labels: Book reviews