Rating: 
Summary: Not appropriate reading for most parents of PDD kids
Review: I am deeply disturbed at the idea that many readers who choose this book will be mothers of PDD kids, who like myself, seek new ideas, insights, the consolation of shared experience, and the special validation that only the printed word can convey. I found none of these things. Quite the opposite. This book made me so depressed and angry, I was unable to finish it. Maybe I was the only reader to notice that Ms. Kephart's prose is distinctly self-congratulatory. Intended, or not, the sub-text on every page is that her patience, intuition, dedication, love,(and, yes, suffering) have given her son a normal life. Well, I guess the rest of us,who have not yet wrought a miracle, must be somehow lacking in mother's intuition or perhaps, just not trying hard enough. She shows no grace to those still on the front lines four, five and ten years after diagnosis; We who are still running from occupational therapist, to physical therapist, to speech therapist, to socialization classes, conferences with educators, psychologists, and nutritionists, to wholistic healers, traditional healers, and experimental healers; we who see a PDD that is not sweet and tender (If only my son would simply insist upon wearing a green hat.),but that is scary and sometimes ugly. What about us? It used to be that the experts made us feel that our children were impaired because we were bad mothers. It is a sad irony that now we have Ms. Kephart to tell us that if we were only as good a mother as she, our children might be whole. It should be noted that the book does have value to parents of the newly diagnosed in that it sends a powerful message of hope and the reassurance that our efforts will be rewarded with progress. It does reveal the notion that raising an atypical child can have a sort-of perverse beauty and is in fact, a spiritual journey, as well as one of self-exploration. And most importantly, it may give some the courage to buck the establishment,in defense of their children, for advocacy is one of the most important things we can give them. All these things are important, but realize that Jeremy is very unlike the typical PDD child and that from where I sit, Beth Kephart is not only clueless about the less sentimental realities of continuing life with a PDD child, but she is also, without doubt, the luckiest woman in America. To all the parents who have been living with PDD or autism for awhile now, and for whom this review is intended: Keep up the good fight and put something else on your bedside table.
Rating: 
Summary: One Family's Courage in the Face of a Mystifying Diagnosis
Review: I love "A Slant of Sun," a first book by Beth Kephart, a memoir for her nine-year-old son Jeremy. This book is about everything that matters in relationships, whether son and mother, husband and wife, friends. It's about acceptance and compassion and anger and courage. It's about stripping life down to its essentials to find out what the essentials are. What does it matter if your son has good manners or a sensible bedtime if he has not, in the course of his young life, found the words, any words, that will order the rest of his life? I love you, Mommy. I want cereal. I want to play. Diagnosed at age two with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, Jeremy had obsessions and rituals and fears and no language to express his need for them. He loved cars and arranging them in precise, unvarying patterns. He was terrified of strangers, of any disruption in his day. The picture on the cover of the book is of Jeremy, alone and facing the world from his front porch, wearing the too-big green hat that for a time was his equivalent of Dorothy's ruby slippers, a bit of protection, a hedged bet against a world that wanted him to be like other kids. And a badge, too, that said, "I'm not like other kids. I hope I find my way, but it will be my way." In fact, that's how it was. Today, he is on the verge of third grade, a move forward that, like all new things, has him a little nervous. "I know," he confides to his mother, "that I'm not good at transitions." He agreed to having a bunch of strangers in his house for a party in honor of the publication of the book for which he was the inspiration and the hero as long as he could leave and play soccer in the backyard when he felt like it. He not only held his own, he held forth. I know because I was there. I met Kephart through her bread and butter work as a freelance business writer. I met Jeremy when I learned that his diagnosis was the same as the one pinned on my sister's child, who is three years younger than Jeremy and who, like Jeremy, is gifted in many ways and has eyes you could drown in. I hoped, like everyone who loves a child and sees him suffering, for a prescription. That is not what I found, either in knowing Jeremy or in reading the book about him. I found, as another reviewer has noted, "an extended poem" about the healing power of love. That, ultimately, is what makes this book worth reading. Jeremy's extraordinary progress through his disorder is, implacably, his story and his alone. The disorder is too broad for it to be otherwise. Kephart - though she knows the science of PDDNOS and autism well enough to be asked to lecture at Johns Hopkins - is as bewildered as anyone. She writes, "It seems to me that the stronger Jeremy grows, the more confounding becomes the incipient question: Just what has happened here? Five years ago we saw our child disappearing - a rapid descent into silence. We met with doctors. We were given terminology. The terminology was a dark room, a dead end....Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified is a label extended to tens of thousands of children....It's an active search on the Internet. But it remains, in my mind, nothing more than a cipher, a way of saying, "We are not quite sure what's wrong." What is universal, and right, in "Slant" and what Kephart expresses with honesty and exquisite language is the maddening collaboration of heartbreak, joy, rage, and simple sweetness that defines love -- whether you're a small boy demanding that the world take you green hat and all or a mother faced with diagnoses, haunted by imagined inadequacies, exhausted with daily and alternating frustration and progress, cognizant of prices to be paid if this road is taken over that road, and utterly charmed, still, by the hat. "On all the [hat] trees, on all the branches, among all those dozens of leaves, there could not be a more controversial choice," she writes. "A Slant of Sun" is the real deal. It's a compelling story, compellingly told. It will hold up to the light.
Rating:
Summary: A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage
Review: I loved A Slant of Sun for supporting the idea that loving your child/children counts in a big way. It beautifully communicates the feelings that appear when a person starts to know their child isn't OK. No two situations are ever the same but having someone stand up and say the little successes help in every childs life made me feel like what I strive for all day - regardless of the observable outcome - is worth doing.
Rating:
Summary: Beth Kephart's books speaks to all parents.
Review: I picked up Slant of Sun because of the appeal of the jacket. After reading one page, I knew it was the kind writing I would appreciate. And indeed I did. Her style was beautifully poetic and expressive. Behind it is a woman with deeply felt and complicated emotions. As a parent of so-called normal children, full grown, I could identify with her as a mother. The sensitivity and compassion for her child, her expression of love and devotion, frustration, denial, guilt and despair were written with such depth and skill that, as a reader, my empathy and admiration was completly evoked. It is rare to find such reality and honesty in writing. Her son becomes a full rich person, not just a child with a disability. The depiction of a parent's relationship with her child, the choices every attentive parent is faced with on some level, is addressed in a most effective way in this memoir. All the players in the life of her son; father, grandparents, friends and teachers are fully! drawn and appreciated. I was moved by this book and would recommend Slant of Sun to all readers, not just those who have children with particular problems, although it is a perfect way for such parents to share the feelings and experiences these complications present.
Rating:
Summary: lyrical and poignant
Review: I'd very much like to echo the enthusiasm of the other reviewers of this book. Kephart's prose is gorgeous, and her insights are heart-rending and soulful. What truly impressed me about this book was its honesty. Kephart deeply loves her son, but she also struggles with the ramifications of that love, as all conscious, hopeful, thoughtful parents do. This is a beautiful book, extraordinary reading for the parents and caregivers of all our blessed children.
Rating: 
Summary: "A triumph of writing and of the human spirit." Kim Chernin
Review: In writing SLANT over the last five years, my concern has been to look beyond labels and medical methodology so as to discover the extraordinary spirit of a little boy. I have sought as well to offer a beacon of hope to parents who receive a diagnosis of any kind, and to extend a long word of thanks to the many individuals who became heroes in our own lives: the farmer mechanic at a school who earned my son's trust with old banjo songs and a handcarved jeep; the camp counselors who created a gorgeous musical and dance ensemble out of children with cerebral palsy, developmental disorders, and mostly no difference at all; the young kindergarten teacher and school principal who didn't blink when we asked for their special attention and care. SLANT was written with the literary care I give my fiction and with the hope that it does, in the end, do justice to my son. While it is one of the only books yet written on pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, I wrote it with the hope that it would appeal to anyone who believes that children really are the luminous gifts in our lives.
Rating: 
Summary: A Slant Of Sun
Review: Just finished this book. I must say it was very well written and inspiring. But if your child has been recently diagnosed with PDDNOS and you are searching for help, advice, tools for raising a child with PDDNOS this may not be the book for you. . My son was diagnosed many years ago, but as with any parent in search of books or material specifically directed towards PDDNOS, you grab for anything you can find.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully Written Story of a "Different" Little Boy
Review: Pulled along by the author's beautiful style, I read this book in two sittings. For me the best parts were when she confessed her feelings of inadequacy, when she drove for hours or spent money she really didn't have, just to give meaning and structure to her day. And I appreciate that she stresses many times that this is the story of one quirky little boy, not a treatise on a cure for autism. Am I the only one, however, who detects a bit of preciousness--quoting T.S. Eliot to a newborn-- or a little smugness over the fact that she and her husband are artistic and therefore special? Would that her background had been a little less rarified! I can see why this book would be frustrating-even infuriating-to a parent who wasn't able to break through to his child, or wouldn't or couldn't be so singleminded to the expense of almost everything else in life. My final image of her is of her and her son trapped in chill, pristine snow--a metaphor for the book, perhaps.
Rating:
Summary: A Soul Released!!
Review: The "green hat" caught my attention!! the first thing that raced through my mind was, how wonderful a mother to let her child's spirit come through in such a beautiful item, that he obviously chose to wear!!....I opened the book and began to read the 1st and 2nd chapter and just knew I had to buy this book. I couldn't stop smiling at that cover, that little boy, no face attached to him but that "green hat" for some reason said it all to me. I read this book in one sitting and I cannot express how it touched me so very, very much. I have purchased this book for several friends that have children and they in turn have loaned theirs out to co-workers etc. Let it be known that one does not have to have children in order to appreciate this book!!...it will make one ponder what is "normal" anyway! and maybe be a little more patient with others!!!
Rating:
Summary: beautiful insight, hopeful and profound
Review: This book is a must read for parents of children finding their way back from the cloud of autism spectrum disorders. Beth Kephart paints a picture, not just of a heartbreaking condition but also of hope and joy in the midst of recovery. As the mother of a toddler battling the same mysterious condition I appreciated her acceptance and delight in her son. Beth Kephart put into words perfectly how parenting an autistic child can be so magical and thrilling and so sad and heartbreaking at the same time. Her refusal to let a diagnosis define her son is inspiring. This is an excellent book to read as a companion to all the information books about autism and pdd. Her son is not 'cured' but he is back, loving and being loved. Aside from the story itself Beth Kephart's use of words and language make the book worth reading, she writes beautifully. A wonderful book.
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