Rating: 
Summary: The story of a father and son
Review: It would be a shame if the circumstances surrounding the author's death cast a shadow over this fine book, because it is beautifully written, deeply felt, and a devastating account of the impact of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) among Native Americans.Michael Dorris, a young unmarried college teacher and writer, adopts a Native American boy "Adam" whose developmental problems, he believes, are the result of poor nutrition, poor health care, and lack of proper parenting. In time, however, he discovers that Adam was born with FAS, a condition Dorris knows very little about. Believing that proper care can reverse the effects of FAS, he takes on the daunting and nearly futile task of helping Adam achieve a "normal" boyhood. The damage done, it turns out, is irreversible; Adam is almost maddeningly unable to learn simple tasks and responsibilities. FAS-related health problems, including seizures, often turn merely difficult days and nights into nightmares for the single father. The book Dorris writes is meant as an eye-opener for readers who are unaware of the potential harm in consuming alcohol during pregnancy. Given naturally to research and study, he shares with the reader much of what he learns about FAS and the Native American culture that has had such a fatal connection with alcohol. To that extent, this is almost a textbook on the subject. But this is also the story of a father and son, and most poignant, for this reader, is the relationship between them that is a thread throughout the book. Dorris never surrenders to the barriers that exist between him and his son. Having taken responsibility for Adam, he gives his all to making even the smallest difference in the boy's life. It's a heroic effort and often heartbreaking.
Rating:
Summary: Coping with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Review: Michael Dorris, a single 26 year old professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth, decided he wanted to adopt a child by himself, he didn't really know what he was getting himself into in The Broken Cord by Michael Dorris, a book that should be highly recommended to any reader.
Through the long hard process of adoption, he finally became a father to a young boy named Adam. Michael was told that Adam had some severe developmental problems due to his FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) and the abuse and neglect from his biological mother. Michael was aware of these developmental problems; however he seemed to ignore them, or at least think that they would be easily overcome and he would mature like a normal child. However after adopting two more children later, Sava and Madeline, he realized that they developed much faster, and were quickly at the same level as Adam. In the beginning of the book, Michael was in denial. He blamed Adam's developmental issues on unfair tests, a sluggish start, and useless assessments. At one point, he wrote, "I periodically concluded that Adam's teachers must be incompetent, badly trained, or lazy when they failed to stimulate his performance in the classroom."(pg 65) Michael learned about determination and unconditional love through his life. It took a lot of work from him, teachers, and other people in the community to help Adam develop slowly.
There are many humorous stories, such as the train birthday cake that Michael made for Adam's daycare, which he made using some extremely bold dyes for the icing, and got a call from the owner of the daycare who was very concerned. "`It's when they put the kids to bed,' she said. `When they took them to the potty. They noticed before they flushed! The water in the toilet bowl was green! Or bright blue! Electric yellow! Orange!'" (page 69) Like he mentioned in one part of the book, it is almost necessary when dealing with FAS to have a sense of humor about it.
This book is very well written, and contains a lot of history and facts about the Native American culture, as well as about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and its strain and effects on development. There were also many examples of good literature. "My cabin perched on a bank above the beach, high enough so that I seemed entirely surrounded by improbable light, awhirl in the energy of star and sea." (page 3) This passage brings about a taste of the immense imagery and high-quality descriptions found in The Broken Cord.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in another culture, and in learning about FAS. Personally, I didn't know what Fetal Alcohol Syndrome really entailed until I read The Broken Cord. It's full of laughter, love, devotion, and tragedy, a little something for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful, but not recommended as intro. to FAS
Review: This is a vivid and moving account of a father's initiation into (single) parenthood and the rigorous journey of seeing a handicapped child into adulthood. It is both laugh-out-loud funny and profoundly sad. This book works best on the level of personal story-- what it means to live with a child who will never be normal, as you both fear and deny the reality that your kid is handicapped. (As the adoptive mother of a girl who has a constellation of emotional and psychological problems, but with no definitive cause, I could relate to Dorris' experience.) For me, the book bogged down in Dorris' lengthy research findings pertaining to FAS and its impact on native american communities. Dorris adopted his son, Adam, with no forewarning of Adam's FAS diagnosis and wrote the book during the early days of FAS research. Therefore, this info. was groundbreaking at the time of the book's publication, but it is dated today. Because this book is the story of only one individual-- one who was extremely handicapped by his condition-- it paints a pretty depressing picture of FAS, and the book is NOT one I would recommend first to anyone who had just taken on the responsibility of raising a child with FAS or FAE. There are more ways to treat and support individuals with FAS/FAE than were available when Dorris was raising Adam, and foster and adoptive parents of FAS/FAE children need to be pointed to resources that give them a broader view of the possibilities for their youngsters.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, but not recommended as intro. to FAS
Review: This is a vivid and moving account of a father's initiation into (single) parenthood and the rigorous journey of seeing a handicapped child into adulthood. It is both laugh-out-loud funny and profoundly sad. This book works best on the level of personal story-- what it means to live with a child who will never be normal, as you both fear and deny the reality that your kid is handicapped. (As the adoptive mother of a girl who has a constellation of emotional and psychological problems, but with no definitive cause, I could relate to Dorris' experience.) For me, the book bogged down in Dorris' lengthy research findings pertaining to FAS and its impact on native american communities. Dorris adopted his son, Adam, with no forewarning of Adam's FAS diagnosis and wrote the book during the early days of FAS research. Therefore, this info. was groundbreaking at the time of the book's publication, but it is dated today. Because this book is the story of only one individual-- one who was extremely handicapped by his condition-- it paints a pretty depressing picture of FAS, and the book is NOT one I would recommend first to anyone who had just taken on the responsibility of raising a child with FAS or FAE. There are more ways to treat and support individuals with FAS/FAE than were available when Dorris was raising Adam, and foster and adoptive parents of FAS/FAE children need to be pointed to resources that give them a broader view of the possibilities for their youngsters.
Rating:
Summary: A truly powerful book!
Review: This is the story of a man and his adopted son and the devotion Dorris had to his son. It exposes more than fetal alcohol syndrome. It gives us insight into what it means to be a parent and love unconditionally. Dorris contributed so much to humanity; he will be missed
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