Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Nov 17, 2009

Robin rated it:

This one is a struggle for me to review. I had conflicting thoughts and emotions throughout the entire book. It is well written and very honest, BUT....
There a two strong sides to me. One side is the "just get over it and do what you need to do" side, and the "wow, I can really sympathize with what you are going through...and it has to be really tough"
I have to say I am a little shocked at how much this diagnosis rocked her world. True a lot of the hardship she More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 13, 2009

Shelah rated it:

A couple of days ago, a friend came over to my house and asked if she could borrow a few books. I took her through my unpacked and accessible stash and handed her this as a possibility. "Oh, this one is really good," I said. "Is it just good because she's a friend of yours?" she asked. "No, it's legitimately good," I assured her. She took it home with her.

I'm interested to hear what my friend has to say, but I really do think that Kathy Soper's memoir is More...

0 comments like

May 21, 2009

Amy rated it:

This is a cleanly-written, sometimes humorous, and insightful glimpse into a year in the life of a mother and her son with Down's Syndrome. I read it in hours and found it both riveting and disturbing. I am a lover of a non-fiction tale and was suitably sucked in immediately.

The author recounts many difficulties including the horrors of a premature birth and her son's stay in a NICU, a strained marriage, the trials of listening to others fumble with words over her situation, famil More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 17, 2010

Jessica rated it:

I'm guessing Ms. Soper intentionally wrote her bitter, nasty, fatalist last line into each chapter on purpose, but I did find it a bit too much after a while. Despite this one complaint I was keenly interested in the story she told of her own coming to terms with her seventh child having Trisomy 21, or Down's Syndrome.

Yes, she was honest. She excelled at painting the picture of her psyche, her chaotic home, her prison bedroom, her cold marriage, her terrible plummet into an inabi More...

0 comments like

Oct 31, 2009

Emilie rated it:

3.5 of 5 stars

This book is very hard to really write a review on. First, I should mention that I accept this book as this woman's truthful journey through accepting, dealing with and eventually flourishing after the diagnosis of her 7th child having Down Syndrome. The text itself is well written, well thought out and emotionally moving.

Where I had difficulty is in her coping process itself. Although there were many thoughts and ideas I understood and sympathized with, t More...

0 comments like

Mar 02, 2010

Carol rated it:

This was a great book. It is about a mother who gives birth to her seventh child and he has downs syndrome. It is very real and honest and follows her ups and downs as she comes to accept and love her new son for who he is and realizes that she can love her other children also for who they are and not what they achieve. It will especially ring clear for those who have a handicapped child or those like me who did not know at first what thier newborns abilities would be. It really brought me back More...

0 comments like

Sep 29, 2009

Jodi rated it:

I was so moved by this open, honest and true account of a mother who gives birth to her 7th child--her son Thomas who is borne with an extra chromosome, a down syndrome baby. With six other children, a busy husband, and predisposed notions about disabilities, this mother shares her journey to accept this new life and this new role as mother to Thomas. The book explores coming to terms with real anxieties about disabilities and along the way you fall in love with the story, with the family, and More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 14, 2009

Denise rated it:

This book has reminded me that all is not as it appears when we look at other people. And that we, as mothers, just do the best we can when we are raising our children and hopefully our best will be enough. This book is a well written, very honest account of a clinically depressed mom trying to cope with life after having her seventh child 10 weeks early and coming to terms with his Down Syndrome. It was eye-opening to have her share her thought processes. She literally had to go through the More...

0 comments like

Jan 23, 2012

Tanya rated it:

Great book so far, very thoughtful and easy to relate to. That was how I felt after reading the first couple of chapters... but now it's far from favorite reading. It seems more about Ms. Soper and her Post-Partum Depression and personal mental health (which she finally starts to deal with through medication 2/3 of the way through the book... all the while putting down people who turn to meds to deal with mental health issues... go figure).

For some reason I sometimes feel guilty do More...

0 comments like

Jul 18, 2011

Crystal rated it:

This book is truly remarkable.
It is now one of my favorites.

This tells the story of a mother of 6, Kathryn Soper, who goes through a journey beginning with having her 7th child 10 weeks early, not only does that come with its own set of problems, but then she finds out that he has Down syndrome. She battles with her thoughts about that and she takes the reader through her slow journey to get through all the obstacles.

When i read it i could imagine that i was right there, More...

0 comments like

Apr 17, 2009

Lisa rated it:

I am having a hard time deciding how much I liked this book. It was interesting enough that it kept me up late continuing to turn the pages, but on some level it fell short of what I expected. In addition to Down syndrome, there are some other dominating themes in the story as well: the struggles of caring for a large family (I can relate); her Mormon faith (I had a hard time with all the religious stuff); and postpartum depression. Honestly, I thought the first half+ of the book was dominated More...

0 comments like

Oct 11, 2009

Shanda rated it:

This book is excellent, honest, touching, and life-altering. I had my eyes opened to my own shortcomings. I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE. I was moved to tears on several occasions, especially while the author was relating her experiences with the NICU as the memories of the isolettes and alarms from my own baby's time in the NICU are still recent. The author shared her journey of self-discovery while guiding me on my own as I read her story. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it do More...

0 comments like

Aug 10, 2010

Eliza rated it:

I polished this off in an afternoon. Opened my eyes and heart wider to the possibilities for growth through trials for all of us as humans, and to our capacity to love. Very tender, a little bleak at times, very hopeful at times, maybe a little too analytical/philosophical at times (pot -> kettle: black), and not sentimental. Recommended.

I also very much enjoyed Soper's essay compilations, "Gifts" and "The Mother in Me." (she was the editor and wrote I think o

1 comment like

Aug 27, 2010

Budd rated it:

This is OK if one thinks that Down kids should be carried until they reach a sort of half-life. Sarah Palin made her whole career out of popping a kid -- she called it "Lapdance" -- even though she knew it would be completely worthless at birth. For those of us who think that abortion on Down kids should be not only supported but paid for by the government, this book will be a letdown. I suppose the mother is smarter than the kid, but not by much.

0 comments like

Jan 31, 2012

Allyson rated it:

Such an amazing book!! I'd recommend this to every parent of a special-needs kiddo, if not every parent. Thomas sounds like the sweetest kid, as well as his brothers and sisters. There were times when I could relate to what he and his mom went through, times when I wanted to just curl up and cry for them and times that I laughed out loud. It's books like this, that give parents a little bit of hope, gratitude and time to focus on them....especially when their kid has something that's not cla More...

0 comments like

Sep 12, 2009

Jessie rated it:

This is probably not the best book to read while pregnant, since her raw honesty about post-partum depression brought back a lot of painful memories for me. But it is a powerful book, not only in its honesty but in the insights she draws from her experience. It is not just a book about dealing with a disabled child, but about dealing with the sudden, devastating challenges that come to all of us at one point or another in our lives.

0 comments like

Dec 31, 2010

Annette rated it:

This is a wonderfilled book. Soper is so honest about her feelings, you will cry with her,and understand her pain and her joy. The book is really about mothering. Soper writes about her son, Thomas, born with Down Syndrome, her seventh child. She deals with frustrations of a large family, depression, friends and family who can be both critical and over simplifing. It really touched me in places I rarely look at.....

0 comments like

Jan 24, 2010

Michelle rated it:

An honest and candid and at times brutal recounting of going through an early birth, followed by a Down Syndrome diagnosis, followed by a long hospital stay, followed by debilitating PPD. With six other children, this is Soper's trudge through a very difficult time their family's life. She finds relief from her PPD through medication, but still struggles to know how to balance her overachieving personality with trying to find what's best for her son Thomas.

0 comments like

Jan 30, 2011

Kim rated it:

Hmmm. I have read many blog posts by this author and I find her so very insightful, honest, and interesting. I wanted to like this book more than I did. This book definitely helped create a shift in me regarding how we view success in our children, but found her attitude somewhat bothersome and I disagreed with some of the decisions she made. I enjoyed the first part of the book more than the second.

0 comments like

Mar 06, 2011

Sharon rated it:

WOW! I wish I'd read this book first, of all the books on Down syndrome. It was told with such raw honesty and feeling, and I think a lot of the things the author went through after the birth of her son, are a lot of the same things Lindsey and I have felt after Lily's birth.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book. Lindsey liked it a lot, too, better than "Expecting Adam".

0 comments like

Dec 06, 2009

'becca rated it:

Her little Thomas was born just a year or so before William I think. It was so good to read that she has had some of the same thoughts as I have had. I didn't and don't have all of her challenges, but we both have a little boy with Down syndrome. And, therefore, have experienced some life-changing things the same.

It's nice to know there are other parents out there who don't buy into the stereotypes (even the positive ones...though of course I'd take them over the negative ones any d More...

0 comments like

Apr 03, 2011

Lora rated it:

A brutally honest personal journey for this mom of a child with Down Syndrome. "...Thomas's radiant presence touched us every day. How it happened was still a mystery. maybe that extra chromosome acted like Teflon preventing anything heavy or dark from sticking to his soul. But I still couldn't believe that his soul was that much different from mine...or anyone else's." (322)

0 comments like

Jan 21, 2010

Hilary rated it:

A real honest account of what this woman went through as her and her family came to terms with their premature son's diagnosis. I'm pregnant right now, so I'd kind of expected it to be 'harder' to read, but I was surprisingly unemotional, yet still extremely moved, by her struggles to deal with and cope with her changing world.

0 comments like

Apr 28, 2009

Lyn rated it:

This was so good. It was emotional and honest and heart warming and heart wrenching all at the same time. I crave memoirs with honesty and this felt so honest to me. I thought so many of her feelings and fears and expectations were applicable to all mothers - not just those raising children with disabilities.

0 comments like

May 23, 2010

Sarah rated it:

I started this book out liking the writing style and not particularly feeling sympathetic to the author. Then half way through, I was tired of the very formulaic chapters (why does every chapter have to end with a "deep thought"?), but I liked the author. This book definitely gave me stuff to think about.

0 comments like

Jun 13, 2010

Emily rated it:

I really really liked this book. It is one of those that will stick with me for a long time. Maybe it was because I was pregnant at the time I read it, but even though we had little in common I really understood where the author was coming from. Worth every minute spend reading it.

0 comments like

Dec 26, 2009

Carol Rich rated it:

This book has transformed the way I see others and see myself. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand their own intrinsic worth and the worth of others on a deeper level. Kathryn Soper is a superb writer, one of the best I've read.

0 comments like

Oct 02, 2009

Holly rated it:

Well written account of a mother struggling to come to grips with her son's down syndrome. For me, it was too much like reading my own journal and my own journey so it didn't reach the LOVE or INTERESTING place like it did for some.

0 comments like

Jan 14, 2011

K1 rated it:

This one kept me reading until late at night, partly because as a stay at home mom I could identify with parts of her story, and also because her writing is so engaging. I admire Mrs. Soper in her ability to share all sides of her experience, good and bad.

0 comments like

Aug 03, 2010

Shawna rated it:

I really enjoyed the emotional honesty of this book. It made me feel a lot better about my own feelings as I have adjusted to having a new baby in the house. Her situation is of course amplified by her son's diagnosis of Down Syndrome, but there is much that is common to all mothers.

2 comments like

reviews