Able’s world by Tara Richardson

Full disclosure I am a Facebook friend of Tara’s but I’ve tried to be as objective and professional as possible during this review.

I really really wanted to like this book but I didn’t completely as I found it lacking in detail. First up I think the cover art of a young boy is sitting on up bicycle with his hands across the handlebars suited this quick read. Within the first couple of pages we are introduced to the realities of Abel’s disabilities although no level of spinal cord injury is given which indicates a lack of research on the author’s part. The first couple of chapters were taken up with Abel getting his first power chair which I think was awesome. What struck me as unusual was that his dad who is a military man was able to get time off work to see him get his power chair. I would be surprised if this was able to be done in the real world. I don’t know why Able wasn’t attending school with a teacher aide instead of being homeschooled is this would have made his transition back to school a lot easier. I think his interactions with his classmates after he got his power chair were unrealistic. I thought most of the stuff about the art once a patient comes home was correct. Sadly this also pointed to a lack of research on the author’s part again as art therapy is quite common for many reasons during the acute rehabilitation stage of quadriplegia. Given the tone of the book Able’s result in the contest was expected.

Yes I would recommend this to a friend who was looking for a light hearted quick read that was light on details about mouth painting. I personally will not be reading it again as it is a very memorable story thanks to its simplicity.