Extraordinary People with Disabilities - Softcover

Deborah Kent is the author of several nonfiction books for children.

Grade 5-10?This collective biography contains 3-to-4 page essays about 48 famous people (18 women, 30 men) who had (or have) disabilities. Arrangement is chronological, beginning with John Milton (b. 1608) and ending with Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1995. The majority of subjects were born after 1880 and are primarily North American. Many of the names are obvious, such as Beethoven, Helen Keller, FDR; others are not usually associated with a disability, such as Tom Cruise (dyslexia). Several will not be known outside their area of expertise such as Harilyn Rousso (disability-rights activist, psychotherapist) and Temple Grandin (livestock-handling equipment designer). Each well-written article presents information about the disability, the individual's accomplishments, and some personal data. A black-and-white photograph (or drawing) accompanies each essay. The section "To Find Out More" includes a long list of books, magazines, organizations, and Internet sites. A fine combination of biography and the history of the disability-rights movement.?Martha Gordon, formerly at South Salem Library, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.