This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by C.R. Hurst for Readers' Favorite
More than a memoir, Henry’s Classroom: A Special Education in American Motherhood by Amy Mackin offers a damning account of how American policymakers and institutions fail neurodivergent children and their families. In it, Mackin, a mother with three children who have developmental issues that require special education, battles the bureaucracy that prevents them from gaining access to therapy, programs, and classrooms that could help, in particular, her second child, Henry, who is the most profoundly affected. By sheer force of will and strong skills in networking and research, she manages to amass effective strategies for each of her children to succeed in a society not designed for any divergence from what it deems “normal”. The author presents her family’s story so that other families might benefit from it and to prepare them for their own battles against a system rife with inconsistencies and frustrations.
What impresses me the most about Henry’s Classroom is Amy Mackin’s ability to combine her family’s narrative with an analysis of current thinking regarding the education of children with special needs. She understands the problems “from within and without,” problems that have psychological as well as political and organizational impacts. This awareness, coupled with her ability to tell a great story, makes for a book both thoughtful and affecting. In particular, as a former educator, I found her appreciation of the efforts of experienced teachers who cared enough to help Henry in the classroom especially heartwarming. Yet, I also came away from my reading of Henry’s Classroom with the painful realization that America's political and educational systems are failing to care enough to help solve the problems of neurodivergent children and their families.
