Five years separate Paul from his younger brother, Jacob, who has Down syndrome. With meticulous tenderness, this story gentles Paul out of his rag...
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reviews
Jun 27, 2011
Ellie
rated it: 
Radiance Descending by Paula Fox is aimed towards a high school audience but Fox's writing is as en pointe as ever and this book is worth reading at any age.
Paul is three years old when his parents return from the hospital carrying his new baby brother, Jacob. Although he notices that the baby looks different, it is only as Jacob grows older that Paul begins to understand what it means to have Down's Syndrome. And from his point of view, it means that Jacob gets most of his parents tim More...
Paul is three years old when his parents return from the hospital carrying his new baby brother, Jacob. Although he notices that the baby looks different, it is only as Jacob grows older that Paul begins to understand what it means to have Down's Syndrome. And from his point of view, it means that Jacob gets most of his parents tim More...
Feb 20, 2009
Duane
rated it: 
I'm usually a big fan of Paula Fox's work, but this book was a big let down. She writes a story about Paul, a older brother of Jacob,who has Down Syndrome. The story follows Paul as he does everything he can to erase Jacob from his everyday family life. Fox goes too far and makes Paul a character you truly don't like even if he has legitimate reasons to be who he is. The ending is completely flat and is one of the worst endings I've ever read in a book. She leaves the story in mid sentence and f
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Jul 08, 2010
Julie
rated it:
This is a junior fiction novel so I guess I shouldn't have set my expectations too high. The book was really repetitive - 100 pages could have been reduced to about 30. Paul wants nothing to do with his younger brother, Jacob, who has Down's Syndrome. As The boys get older, Paul shuts Jacob out more & more. Their wise old grandpa steps in and helps Paul understand his brother's disability. That's it, that's the story. A better choice if you're looking for a junior novel about differently-abled s
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Jan 10, 2009
Kate
rated it:
A pre-teen, Paul, has to learn how to live with his mentally challenged younger brother. For most of his life he has tried to learn not to think about Jacob, until he moves to a new town and finds himself helping to care for Jacob. With help from his grandfather, Paul realizes that people in the town don’t think of Jacob as a reflection on Paul. The ambiguous ending prevents the story’s moral from being too didactic.
Feb 19, 2009
Laura
rated it:
I struggled with rating this one. It was very well-written, but it's just so depressing. The boy is really mean to his brother; I think Fox took it a little too far, trying to get the reader to understand his frustration with his brother. Instead I just felt angry at the character, not sympathetic.
Jan 13, 2011
Anne
rated it: 
This book was heavy on the "why I can't stand having a brother with DS" and light on the "Wow, he's a person, too" at the end. I wish she'd carried it on a few more chapters to show Paul's changed attitude toward his brother and how that would have affected his own life, too.
Apr 21, 2010
Karen
rated it:
I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I think Cynthia Lord's Rules handles a very similar topic (though that brother has Autism, not Down's) in a much more relatable way. I would recommend that book over this one to my students.
Nov 06, 2008
Bennett
rated it: 
Synopsis
Five years separate Paul from his younger brother, Jacob, who has Down syndrome. With meticulous tenderness, this story gentles Paul out of his rage at a family situation he can't control. Slowly, dramatically, Paul begins to let the light of Jacob's presence in the family stream into his brightening view of the world.
When he sees all the attention which his parents and people in the neighborhood give to Jacob, eleven-year-old Paul struggles with his feelings toward th More...
Five years separate Paul from his younger brother, Jacob, who has Down syndrome. With meticulous tenderness, this story gentles Paul out of his rage at a family situation he can't control. Slowly, dramatically, Paul begins to let the light of Jacob's presence in the family stream into his brightening view of the world.
When he sees all the attention which his parents and people in the neighborhood give to Jacob, eleven-year-old Paul struggles with his feelings toward th More...
Feb 15, 2010
Jim
rated it: 
a baby w/down syndrome is born, and his five year o. he's different, slow, gets all the attention older brother resolves NOT TO THINK ABOUT HIM. feel good ending, everything turns out okay. but not in this book. the last chapter gives a glimmer of hope. defn. not your "everything turns out okay" novel.
well worth reading.
well worth reading.
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