Review: NOT AS EASY AS THE TITLE MAKES IT OUT TO BE
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2013
When I was in the third grade my mother sat me down and told me I was going to college, but I would have to do it myself because she didn't have any money.Unfortunately that isn't the end of that story. Our grandparents lived with us. Papaw was great. Granny lived to torture me. She used switches on me for things I didn't do but should've known about. I came in from hoeing corn in the August heat to hear her say on the phone,"That lazy Vickie's still in bed, but Donnie's been up since the crack of dawn, hoeing the corn."I was lucky. My teachers encouraged me. The older people at church took an interest in me. They wanted to keep me on the straight and narrow so they could be proud. Then there were more lies and they dropped me when they should have been paying more attention.Well, I was almost grown by then. The real problem is the child who's dumped on his whole life.This book is written for adults, but if an adult has been discouraged his entire life, it's like telling a rat who's grown up in catacombs about sunshine. That rat will think you're lying and that adult will likely believe such a transformation is almost impossible.Having a support system is important. Most children can make friends, even if the teacher sets them up by assigning two 'friendless' guys or girls to work together in class. It gives them a person to share time and feelings with. ( I used to set up projects drawing numbered poker chips. The number matches the student name in the role book. Sometimes two chips accidentally got stuck together because I've been working with rubber cement to create new file folder. I did that a lot.)The author attacks the problem from adulthood. I covertly did what I could with young teenagers. We both might have been too late.