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angreadseverything's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
melspedit's review against another edition
3.0
A 3 star book. She is quite an inspiration. The book shifts the way you think of people with disabilities.
melissaalgood's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
What an astonishing woman, and what an intelligent memoir that gets us in her head but sees (and hears) the world as she does.
twhissemore's review against another edition
4.0
Haben Girma's story is one of determination and joy. She's smart (I mean, she graduated from Harvard Law), stubborn (check out the chapters about her volunteer trip in high school), and funny (the chapter about training her dog made me laugh out loud). Many of the stories she tells in this book are about daily life and how she overcomes or fights against the small and large barriers put in her way. Things that sighted and hearing people take for granted, such as being able to read a menu or hear our friends in a loud cafeteria, are obstacles for Haben. It absolutely gave me some perspective. This book could be used in the classroom.
I think this book needed maybe one more edit (some of the dialogue stretched a big long), but it's otherwise excellent.
I think this book needed maybe one more edit (some of the dialogue stretched a big long), but it's otherwise excellent.
ursulamonarch's review against another edition
Haben Girma is an amazing person and her story is incredible and inspiring. The book itself feels like it was written for a younger audience.
subzerochi's review against another edition
5.0
This is the warmest book I've read in a long time. Haben's writing is clear, rich and very real. She is sounds like a person I'd love to be more like, and this is a book I think everyone should read.
lolo412's review against another edition
4.0
I am not typically a reader of much non-fiction, but this was definitely intriguing and kept my interest. I have to admit a couple of the legal sections towards the end I skimmed more than read every detail. This book gave me a lot to think about, especially how I interact with people with disabilities.
nsaphra's review against another edition
4.0
This is such an intimate look at a very different kind of life. I felt like I have a better grasp of the challenges around having to constantly recontextualize social interactions because she doesn’t have enough detail to know someone’s tone or even simple cues around how others are responding. With the exception of sexist chore allocation growing up, she doesn’t describe prejudiced treatment except for ableism, but I am sure to some degree that’s because she misses social cues and comments not directed at her. She also describes technical details around how she accomplishes simple tasks or processes experiences like dancing. She clearly knows what sighted and hearing people are most curious about.
A while ago, a blind friend helped me move. I had a bunch of friends helping out, and they tried to avoid giving him any work. At one point, they were carrying furniture down stairs and he offered to walk backwards down the stairs while someone covered the upper end walking forwards, and they told him he should take the forwards end because it was “easier”! I was frustrated on his behalf and tried to point out that it wasn’t particularly hard for him to walk backwards, since he’s not going to have any more trouble seeing than if he were walking forwards. But everyone treated him—a physically strong person with years of developing blindness skills from childhood—like he didn’t know his own capabilities. This kind of issue comes up constantly in Haben’s memoir and she describes the frustration so well. I hope that some people will read it and come away trusting disabled people on the subject of their own capabilities, if they offer to help.
One last thing: I listened to Haben read on audiobook. Because of her limited hearing range, she learned to speak in a high pitched voice like a child. It took a few minutes getting used to, but she is engaging and expressive, a better narrator than many professionals and most memoirists. But I could see that, with people’s tendency to infantilize anyone with a disability they don’t have, that childlike voice probably reinforces infantilizing treatment.
A while ago, a blind friend helped me move. I had a bunch of friends helping out, and they tried to avoid giving him any work. At one point, they were carrying furniture down stairs and he offered to walk backwards down the stairs while someone covered the upper end walking forwards, and they told him he should take the forwards end because it was “easier”! I was frustrated on his behalf and tried to point out that it wasn’t particularly hard for him to walk backwards, since he’s not going to have any more trouble seeing than if he were walking forwards. But everyone treated him—a physically strong person with years of developing blindness skills from childhood—like he didn’t know his own capabilities. This kind of issue comes up constantly in Haben’s memoir and she describes the frustration so well. I hope that some people will read it and come away trusting disabled people on the subject of their own capabilities, if they offer to help.
One last thing: I listened to Haben read on audiobook. Because of her limited hearing range, she learned to speak in a high pitched voice like a child. It took a few minutes getting used to, but she is engaging and expressive, a better narrator than many professionals and most memoirists. But I could see that, with people’s tendency to infantilize anyone with a disability they don’t have, that childlike voice probably reinforces infantilizing treatment.
mithraeus's review against another edition
5.0
This is an excellent memoir and a great example of how a disabled author can present disability in an empowering way. There is none of the typical "woe is me until I found this one thing that fixed it all" narrative here. It is the real story of a woman who grew into her strength. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in disability rights, discrimination, or good stories. It's well written and engrossing. I listened to the book on Audible and enjoyed hearing Haben tell the story in her own voice. Check it out!