World Book And Copyright Day And World Book Night, 23 April 2014

Reading is my favourite hobby, but it's not just a hobby, its a way of life for me. I learned to read earlier than people thought I would . I've always struggled  with different font sizes  and styles due to my eyesight , and its great now I have my iPad, as I  can change the font size and contrast, and as holding books has always been difficult and tiring for me due to the spasticity in my arms , hands and fingers . I have a special stand for my iPad and I've created gestures to help me turn the pages on my iPad to make it easier . 

Here is my run-down of my World book Day and Night , April 23 , 2014. Today is also a special day as it's 8 years and 1 month since my fiancée and I started our relationship. 

16:00P.M. Finished reading Window Boy by Andrea White.  

This is the story of Sam and his aide, Miss Perkins. He has cerebral palsy, and spends his days looking out his window towards the basketball court at Stirling High School. He longs to go there. He manages to get accepted to the school, and makes friends with Ann, a girl in his class. The story tells of his time in a residential school and care home with a strict headmaster  after he's taken  out of school by his mother, and his experiences of being the only child with a disability in the school. I can totally relate to this as I have the same disability as Sam and was the first child with a disability at my  school. I liked the end and the updates about Sam and his friends and the inspiration for the book: Thomas. Window Boy was set in 1968. I also liked the insights into Miss Perkins' life in London and her memories from the war, 

Synopsis of Window Boy by Andrea White : 

Set in 1968, this touching novel tells the story of Sam Davis, a young man with cerebral palsy who peers though his bedroom window every day at the school he longs to attend. With great determination and the help of both his caretaker and his imaginary friend, Winston Churchill, Sam not only succeeds in gaining admittance to the school and the acceptance of his peers, but also fulfills his dream of becoming the school's basketball coach. The narrative, full of poignant insights into attitudes toward people with disabilities, provides a glimpse into the life of Winston Churchill, who is a key inspiration for young Sam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/magazine/12MAINSTREAMING.html?pagewanted=all&position=&_r=0.  Here's the article  about Thomas  Even then, and unfortunately even now, in 2014, education and the provision for people with disabilities and in society has a long way to go to show true inclusion. I myself have both experience of Special education and "mainstreamed' education. 

19:59 PM  Started Maine by J Courtney Sullivan. 

What attracted me to this book was : firstly , the title. I have family in Maine , and have been there on holiday. I like this New England state. Here's the synopsis of the book 

In her best-selling debut, Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan explored the complicated and contradictory landscape of female friendship. Now, in her highly anticipated second novel, Sullivan takes us into even richer territory, introducing four unforgettable women who have nothing in common but the fact that, like it or not, they’re family. 

For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war, sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky coast, with one tree bearing the initials “A.H.” At the cottage, built by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath the surface. 

As three generations of Kelleher women descend on the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago.

By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.

23;39P.M. I'm enjoying Maine so  far. I'll keep,reading and update tomorrow. 

Enjoy the rest of  Workd Book Night! 

I will definitely participate next year, and can't wait!