So Loud it Hurts

So Loud it Hurts 

By Elaheh Bos

Gus loves almost everything about birthdays, except for the Happy Birthday song.  Gus doesn’t like loud noises and becomes overwhelmed when there is too much going on around him. He suffers from sound sensitivity. Like many children, this type of sensitivity is hard to understand or control.

Gus continues to prepare for his own birthday party thinking about more of the things that he doesn’t want to deal with such as noise from the barking dog, balloons that might pop, children singing or talking loudly. He spends his entire day worrying about the loud noises that he will hear, wondering why other people aren’t bothered by sounds like him. Throughout the story Gus learns that maybe all people don’t get bothered by sounds like he does, but this makes him uniqiue. And being unique is very important.

The author has created a great teaching tool with this story with many wonderful discussions and tips in the back of the book to help children deal with this type of sensitivity. She includes a sound chart, a relaxation plan and tools with the help of a consulting psychologist, Stephanie Margolese, PhD.

Illustrations are a mixture of hand drawing and digitalization. They are bright and colorful pictures with expressive characters. The use of font sizes and color type conveys the play with words and expressions.

This story along with others from the 'plant love grow publishing company' creates books to help children understand, and implement strategies in dealing with sensitivity disorders. This also might include children that fall on the Autism Spectrum as well.

Other books to look for include: A Spot of Blue and The Tiger in My Chest

**Author, Elaheh Bos, has created a wonderful publishing company and website that teaches and encourages and most importantly creates tools and resources for parents, teachers, health professionals and children to guide, nurture, and inspire for change and growth. She deals with many different issues including anxiety, sound sensitivities, anger management, autism, sadness, fear, and many more. With bold digital and hand drawn illustrations, each of her books are unique in that they deal with different issues that speak or resonate to people

Sunbird by Joyce Block

What drew me to this book were the extremely vividly bold and bright illustrations. Once I opened up the book and read the story it helped me to understand a little bit more about the world of someone with ASP (Autism Spectrum Disorder). While this book can be for any young reader, it probably speaks more to children with autism or a child who knows someone with autism.

Meet Tommy, a boy with ASP. Tommy absolutely loves the sun. He loves the warm rays, the bright color and is drawn to the sun. It makes him feel good. When he doesn’t see the sun, his days are harder. Embark on a special journey with Tommy as he looks for the sun in unexpected places.

I almost find the attraction to the sun a bit of juxtaposition to the book, because you can see Tommy’s attraction to the light and it’s brilliant rays. To me this is the meaning behind the book. The illustrations and colors that the illustrator uses in the book convey the feelings that Tommy has on a daily basis. When the sun doesn’t shine, Tommy’s mood changes.

I feel there are many different ways to relate to this story. It is a great read-aloud to provide some in-depth discussion about what this boy sees in the sun and about the neuro-developmental disorder that is characterized by interaction and communication with others.

Sunbird is a book for everyone or anyone that looks at the world in a different way. Can’t that be all of us?

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

This is a book that everyone should read. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper is a compelling read about an 11 year-old child with Cerebral Palsy. Melody isn’t like most kids, she can’t walk and she can’t talk, but she can think. But nobody really knows what goes on in her mind, but we do as readers. Written from the point of view of the character the author shows us the life of a child with a terrible disease. While Melody isn’t mentally challenged like most people think. She is a fifth grader with normal thoughts and feelings. Melody has determination, she is funny and she is full of love. Melody is intelligent but nobody knows it because she can’t talk, she can’t complain, she can’t share her feelings, or answer the questions in class. She can do it in her head, but the words don’t come out of her mouth. That is until she receives a special computer that can talk for her. Once she learns how to the use the keyboard her thoughts come flying out and she suddenly goes from being the stupidest girl in the school to the smartest. But not everyone is ready to see how much she knows. 

This is truly a wonderful story about a young girl that you will never forget; a story of both heartache and hope. It can also be a wonderful story as a read aloud to a class to talk about differences. Another wonderful read about what it is like to be different. Sharon Draper wrote this story as a testament to those with disabilities, those who are misunderstood and to all the people out there that take care of these types of people.  A recommended read for Grades 5-8

Some great teen reads

-->

Wonder by RJ Palacio

A very powerful read, yet one that I would highly recommend for kids in grades 6-8^th. This is a story about a young boy that has been born with some serious malformations of his face due to a genetic disease. Yet inside he is a very normal 5^th grade boy. Like we always say in life, don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a person by his/her face. This is a story with many lessons in it; this is a story that can provide for many conversations in a classroom. This is a story about life, for good or for bad. But mostly it is a story about kindness. I highly recommend this remarkable book!

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Another powerful yet soulful story that I would recommend for teens, grades 8^th and up. This is a story about cancer, cancer in teenagers. It is about life, death, and love. Hazel is 16 with terminal cancer when she meets Augustus at her kids-with-cancer support group the two fall in love. The only caveat is they both don’t know how much longer they each have. A deeply moving story that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.  A powerful story written by an amazing author, a New York Times bestseller as well as a Printz Medal and Honor and the Edgar Award.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker

This is not only a great story for teens, but also a quick easy read for those of us who were teenagers during the mid-1990’s. It is a story that shows us what life was like when the Internet just became popular. When AOL sent discs in the mail so that everyone could go online and sign up for an AOL email account. Remember those days? Now think ahead, what would life been like in the 1990’s if you could see into the future, “Facebook” future. This is a story about two teenagers, Josh and Emma, that suddenly see into the future after logging onto their AOL account and find facebook 15 years later. They see what their life might be like. For good or for bad. a cute story that really shows us how Facebook has changed our lives.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This is a very powerful book about teen suicide full of suspense and emotion. Hannah Baker is dead but before taking her life she talked about the reasons why she wanted to die and recorded them onto cassettes that she later sent out to the young people in her life she felt responsible for her death.  When Clay Jensen receives the box of her tapes in the mail he doesn’t want to have anything to do with the tapes. He feels her secrets should be buried with her but instead he begins listening to the tapes and his life is changed forever. This is truly a book that you will never get out of your mind but at the same time a book that probably has saved many lives as well. The author has created a story that many teens and parents should read on such an important topic.