5 Minutes for Special Needs Books

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Welcome to 5 Minutes for Special Needs Books, a monthly column designed to spread the word about great reading!

This week’s book is a title that you won’t find in the Special Needs section of any bookstore, but it’s one I want you to consider anyway. It’s Kelly Corrigan’s The Middle Place, which is a story about many things, but mostly (to me) it’s about family, and the power of love.

The Middle Place is divided into 2 parts; the first half is an introduction to Kelly and her family, particularly her father George. It’s also when she finds a lump in her breast, and at the tender age of 36, while her children are still just toddlers and she dreams of having more kids, her life changes irreversibly.

In the second half of the book, Kelly’s world again flips, as she learns of her father’s diagnosis of late-stage cancer. She finds herself in “the middle place,” as an adult to her own children, but also very much still her parents’ child, too. Here, she manages another phase of the cancer journey: namely, watching someone you love undergo treatment.

The book resonated with me because of Corrigan’s writing style, which is candid and accessible, but especially because I found, in her story, a bit of my own. I know what it’s like to worry over the future; I know about feeling helpless and overwhelmed; and I appreciate the humor necessary to get through the roughest days.

And too, I know the power of love.

My son Avery has Down syndrome. I remember when we got his diagnosis, my thoughts went quickly from him, to me, and then finally, they rested with his brothers. It was my greatest fear (unfounded, as it turns out) that my other 2 sons would somehow be hurt. Corrigan’s worry about her daughters, and her desire to protect them even through her own struggle, reminds me of how strong a mother’s love can be.

Too, since having Avery in our family, I’ve learned that people who have an extra chromosome at the 21st pair also possess other medical likelihoods: some are not good, like an increased risk for the blood cancers, like leukemia, and an increased risk for early-onset Alzheimer’s, but others are promising. For instance, people with Down syndrome are less likely to develop breast cancer.

This fact feels important to me. There’s something in the genetic makeup of my son that protects him, and if it’s there, it’s my hope that someday, we can understand it, and learn from it, so that what we find can be shared with everyone.

It’s especially on my mind these many months—the long, gray ones of winter and the bright, hot ones of summer—as I witness, firsthand, a dear friend of mine manage her own diagnosis of breast cancer.

I picked up Kelly Corrigan’s The Middle Place hoping to learn how to best love and support my friend (and there’s lots of that, especially at the book’s companion website, CircusOfCancer.org) but I found something for myself, too. I found connections—to Corrigan, to my friend, to myself, and even to my son, which is what good reading is all about.

You can learn more about The Middle Place at 5 Minutes for Mom and 5 Minutes For Books.

Plus, I have one copy of this book to share; if you’d like it, leave your name in the comments and I’ll choose a winner at random.

Happy reading!

Jennifer Graf Groneberg is the author of the book, Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son’s First Two Years with Down Syndrome (NAL/Penguin, 2008), a memoir that offers practical advice and emotional support to parents of children with special needs. You can read more about Jennifer and her family at her website.

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