I have never read a better, and funnier book. I read it over and over again. I gave it to all of my friends and they loved it as well. It gave me hours of entertainment. The Illustrations by Adrienne Hartman were exquisite. I laughed at every single one until my eyes teared. BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book hits home and I'm only 48! Funny book and I think it would make a great gift, especially for a friend's birthday. I could find a use for a dozen copies.

I loved this book and the wonderful illustrations by Adrienne Hartman. I laughed a lot at the things Little Old Ladies do, and I'm going to buy more copies to give to my women friends who are definitely not Little Old Ladies and don't want to be. I know a lot of people who describe their vacations by what they ate though! This is a perfect hostess gift and it would also be an ideal gift for Mother's Day.

I never knew that other siblings felt this way! After years of dealing with guilt, jealously, and overprotectiveness, I finally realized that I was not alone. Best of all, knowing that other sibs experience the same things, I don't feel the need to justify these feelings anymore. This book is a great starting point for sibs who want to/need to understand how having a "special sibling" has affected their life. FYI: Your special sibling doesn't necessarily have to have a obvious physical special need. I belive that sibs of those who suffer from mental illnesses will also find this book comforting and familiar.

I bought this book because I have a child with a disability, and I wanted to do what I can to be helpful to my three other children. It was a wonderful read! It reassured me, which is something all mothers need a lot of. It also reminded me that vigilance about sibling excesses is in order. After reading it, I reminded my children that they don't have to grow up to be superstars in some kind of effort to compensate for what my one child lacks.
I enjoyed the author's willingness to be so honest about her feelings, yet even when revealing negative feelings, she asserted a positive spin by contrasting her feelings with more positive feelings of others. It's clear that much of her difficulty had to do with being raised in a different time -- when there was little help, and when disability was considered shameful and secret. My favorite section of this book is the discussion of the common phenomenon of siblings entering the helping professions as adults. She has a fresh and interesting take on this topic.

It's been called life's longest relationship, and our bond with our siblings usually is just that. Who else could witness our joys and sorrows and put their arms around us through all of life's seasons? With whom else will we share such conflicted feelings of love, hate, rivalry, and reconciliation for so long? To a large extent the biblical tragedy of Cain and Abel haunts every family and every generation. Therefore learning to navigate and face these intense and uncomfortable feelings is a passageway to a healthy adulthood.

As if hurt, resentment, anger, and rage aren't enough, the family crucible is even more complex when a sibling is born with or develops a disability. Parents struggle to be fair to the special and unique needs of each child. Typically developing children watch their parents struggle and feel their own grief as well for what might have been-along with embarrassment and guilt. In the new revised edition of Special Siblings: Growing Up with Someone with a Disability, Mary McHugh helps readers to understand that life's inequities are unavoidable.

"Children who grow up with a brother or sister with a disability learn early that life is unfair," says Mary McHugh, an accomplished writer and the sibling of Jack, a man with cerebral palsy and mental retardation. "They have to learn that often the child with the disability must come first; they must face the fact that not everyone will want to be their friend because of the sibling with the disability; they must learn to accept that people will often stare at their brothers and sisters.... My advice for them is all these things are hard lessons to learn but they make you strong enough to deal with anything life presents you with when you are an adult."

McHugh's research for this book included interviews with more than 100 siblings - in their teens, 20's 30's and 40's - of people with special needs in an effort to understand her own feelings. Her inquiries show that they share more than a brother or sister with a disability. "Growing up with a special sibling makes you compassionate and kind to every human being you meet; it makes you a good problem solver; it makes you tolerant of religious differences, racial differences, other disabilities, old people, etc. It often makes you an achiever who works to make the world a better place. In short, you will probably be the kind of person other people want as a friend."

As Don Meyer, director of the Sibling Support Project, at Children's Hospital of Seattle writes, "In her remarkably wise book, Mary McHugh masterfully blends her experiences and the experiences of others with insights from clinical research. Although McHugh doesn't shy away from the troublesome aspects of sibling relationships, Special Siblings also describes the remarkable attributes seen in many brothers and sisters of people with special needs."

Throughout the book, as Brookes Publishing outlines, McHugh explores the spectrum of feelings- from anger and guilt to love and pride - and helps readers understand the issues siblings may encounter in

· childhood - such as dealing with their own needs for attention and information, identifying with their parents' grief, understanding their sibling's disability, and coping with their own feelings

· adolescence - such as participating in family discussions, fitting in with peers, searching for their own identity, and talking to a counselor or therapist

· adulthood - such as building a support system, navigating adult relationships, deciding whether to have children, and planning for their sibling's future care

McHugh wants siblings to understand that they are not alone. She has included an extensive list of resources in the back of her book. She urges people to go to sibling support groups and talk to other siblings about our often-unacceptable feelings where they will find unconditional acceptance. The one thing Mary McHugh would like to assure every special sibling: "That you will probably grow up to be a very fine person: strong, compassionate able to cope with just about anything that comes along, loving, tolerant, an achiever who will make a difference in the world. The world will be a better place because you're in it."

Readers may wonder if things would be different for McHugh if she and her brother were growing up today. While attitudes toward people with disabilities have improved and access to services has generally increased, family dynamics have remained largely unchanged. The family is our most intimate social setting, and it is there that we are the most vulnerable. Communicating about our pain and resentment diffuses our anger and allows for healing and lifelong cooperation. These are lessons we all must learn, and in this regard children with special needs can be a catalyst.

Emotional, wise and intelligent, this book is a must-read for teen and adult siblings. This is also an indispensable resource for parents who are agonizing over how to do their jobs fairly-one of the most common questions I am asked in my role as a psychologist who specializes in the family life issues. Professionals who support people with disabilities and their families will be likewise enlightened in their roles. Complex matters are so often made clear by the simple yet profound reflections of children. Special Siblings by Mary McHugh is a special contribution that succeeds because it captures the essence of that voice from siblings of all ages including herself.

This history text gives good data and fair inclusion of both a creationists and evolutionist theory of beginnings. The author treats the Bible as one reliable historical document to be included among all the rest. The reading is frequently dry. My older daughter consumed it, but my son has to be urged to get the reading done. This is a fine textbook.

This book tells about young Thomas Jackson as an orphan in Ohio. He went to many different places like his Uncle Brake's. In the end he went to West Point.

As a lieutenant in the United States Army, he performed an amazing win over the Mexican forces. He was an artillery officer, and with his light artillery went toward the strong castle of Chapultepec. The Mexican troops killed or wounded all his unit except Jackson and another man. The two of them with two cannon weakened the fortress so much that the Americans stormed over the castle walls and took it.

The book goes on about his career as an officer and general in the Confederate Army.

I liked this book because it was pretty interesting. I didn't like this book because it made you feel like you were in an airplane over the battle, and not really at the battle. That is why I gave it only three stars.