Getting Better by Will Carter

Genre: Adult, Memoir
Source: I won a copy from LibraryThing. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I have known three people with traumatic brain injuries in my life. All three were involved in terrible car accidents. My cousin was thrown from the car her boyfriend was driving and the car landed on her. She had to learn to walk and talk again.  A guy I dated in high school was hit when a drunk ran a stoplight on New Years Eve. The third was an sixth grader I taught.  He had been in an accident the year before. He wasn't wearing a seat belt. The accident threw him from the backseat, through the windshield onto the roadway. Every day I would meet him in the office.  He was embarrassed with having to use a walker. His grandfather asked if I would talk to him. He was endangering himself. So I showed up the next day with a walker. His eyes got real big. I told him we were in this together. I informed him that I was going to have to have both of my knees replaced and I was running a risk each day NOT using my walker. So I told him I need to learn to be brave like him and use my walker. We walked to class each day.  No I had not lied to him. I had fallen twice at school when the knees just gave out. I asked him about his therapy and encouraged him. I was to miss the last three weeks of school for my surgery. All of my students gave me hugs and gifts for the rehab facility I would go to. They gave me words of encouragement. This young man stepped up and said the following: "This is going to be the toughest thing you have ever done. It is going to hurt, but you work through the pain. Don't lie, if they ask you what your pain level is, tell them, they know how to help you better. Most important don't give up.  You can do this. It is a mental game you have to play until you believe it. Don't worry, I will be here to support you next year like year like you did me."  Both he and his grandfather came to visit me in rehab. So much love and support from a young kid who had to learn to read, write, walk and talk again. I was told before the accident he had an extremely high I.Q. and was in the gifted program. His story of recovery  is one of the reasons I wanted to read Will Carter's book.

This is Will Carter's story. His senior year in high school he was involved in an accident. With all of his sever injuries he was put into a coma to give his body a chance to heal. With such a traumatic brain injury he had to learn to walk and talk all over again. He tells you right from the beginning that these are his memories of that time and he can't be one hundred percent sure how accurate they are. This is a story of perseverance and becoming a new and best you.

The majority of this story takes place during Will's senior year. He talks about his different therapies. He talks about the challenges of going from a straight A student to someone who has trouble remembering what was said just a few minutes before.  The theme that ran throughout this book and is a part of the title is the theme of getting better, and what exactly that means.  At what point  do you realize and accept the definition of  getting better?  This is a very inspirational book and one I will proudly put on my shelves at school.

10th Anniversary Special Edition via Kickstarter

 

It’s Anniversary Time. No, not my anniversary. It has been no secret that Kandi J. Wyatt is one of my favorite authors. She is the one who started my love of reading about dragons. We are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of her book Dragon’s Future.  Check out her Kickstarter where you can get the boxed series with a beautiful dragon across the spines.

Check out all the things on her kickstarter. It goes 7/15 - 8/4.

Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kandijwyatt/dragon-courage-10th-anniversary-special-edition

Blurb:

In a world where dragons and humans live in peace with each other, it is a privilege to be a dragon rider, but riders, like everyone else, must find their purpose.

In this series, twins Ruskya and Duskya fight for their dragon’s futures and their lives! Braidyn struggles with balancing justice and mercy as he searches for a stolen nestling. Kyn and a new friend, Ben’hyamene, discover a breed of wild dragons which have been at war with humans for four hundred years, and the two learn that peace is better than revenge.

Kyn helps Duskya and her daughter, Carryn, search for a young rider who stumbles upon a slave trade. Carryn learns that bitterness leaves a person in bondage as much as being a slave. And Mere learns there are some things even better than being a dragon rider!

Follow along the riders’ quest in this exciting middle grade fantasy series by author Kandi J Wyatt.

 

Dragon's Future by Kandi J. Wyatt

 

This is copied from my post on July 8. 2015.  Check tomorrow's post to Celebrate this special anniversary.

From Goodreads:

Every child of Woolpren dreams of becoming one, but only a few are chosen. Now, ten-year-old twin brother and sister, Ruskya and Duskya, have been selected to join an elite group of riders: dragon riders. Full of awe and excitement, the twins leave their mother, and their home, to train for their new lives.

Fifteen years later, dragons are becoming extinct and riders are rare. One day, Ruskya is at the general store in town when a man announces that he is recruiting new dragon riders. Ruskya goes undercover, and discovers that there is another colony of riders with their own agenda—a quest to find a mysterious plant that could restore the dragon population, or destroy it. When a battle erupts between the two colonies, it’s up to Ruskya and his friends to fight for their dragons’ future, and their lives.

Follow Ruskya’s quest as he finds courage and friendship in this exciting middle grade fantasy series by new author Kandi J Wyatt.

My Thoughts:

Not since reading Christopher Paolini’s “Eragon” have I read a book about dragons that made me want to be a part of that world.  I felt myself wishing I could be in the procession and chosen by a dragon. The book is full of adventure, danger and courage.  All of these are qualities I look for when searching for books for my students to read.  The author has given special gifts to these dragon riders and used simple plants to create the magic that makes all of this work together.  I read this book much slower than I usually read because I wanted to savor every word and didn’t want it to end.  The world the author created was so well described and authentic I could visualize it.  There are subtle lessons and themes throughout the story about friendship, trust, courage and the abuse of power. This would fit right in with my first or second teaching unit on adversity because the characters face some of the most adverse situations ever.   It is at times an emotional read as you feel the pain the twins feel as the story of what happened to their father is slowly unfolded.  This author is truly gifted at feeding in back story a little at a time in just the right places to keep it flowing. She never creates an information dump.  The book ends with so many possibilities for future books I the series.  I can hardly wait for the next book.

Kandi Wyatt has created a story that keeps you flying high like her dragon riders, making this a story for everyone from the reluctant middle school reader to the adventure seeking adult. This is a book that should be on every fantasy shelf, in every school.