Keeping Keller

By Tracy Winegar

Keller is a force to be reckoned with! the year is 1955, and few people understand or tolerate mental handicaps. for Beverly and Warren Vance, the daily struggle to live with their handicapped son,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599551152
• ISBN13: 9781599551159
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Bonneville
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Hearts in the Heartland

This is a deeply moving and very beautiful story. Set in Indiana in 1955, Beverly and Warren are at a loss as how to raise their 5-year-old son, Keller who has autism. Marginally verbal, the boy is rigid about routines and has difficulty interacting. He also requires a lot of supervision. Beverly luckily has a small support system in the form of a very kind malt shop owner and a neighbor who discloses her own secret anguish. Warren is a kind and loving husband and father who spurns his sexually predatory secretary's inappropriate advances and who turns a deaf ear to his father's sexist comments. His family and his 1953 Dodge Coronet are his pride and, to him, his best accomplishments. Parts of this book are funny. Keller's special interest in elephants leads to an embarrassing episode in a grocery store where his drive to find toy elephants proves costly. He also demonstrates destructive behavior while visiting one of Beverly's friends. Things come to a head in early 1956. Keller's behavior spirals out of control with some devastating consequences. Warren is forced to consider making a desperate, drastic decision. A beautiful, deeply moving story set during an era when the word "autism" had only been coined little more than a decade earlier (1943), the delightful characters and rich descriptions as well as the history lessons contained throughout and within the story all work to make this a masterpiece.

Insightful

Tracy Winegar has hit a home run with her first novel. Keeping Keller is a poignant tale that makes the reader think twice about children and relationships. I loved it and highly recommend it.

In A Class of It's Own

This wonderfully written novel is sure to take you in. I read it from cover to cover in a matter of 24 hours, I literally could not put it down! I thought the author was brilliant in her descriptions and the book flowed so smoothly that it was as if I was there witnessing it all with my own eyes. It opened for me, a window into a world I know almost nothing about, and as result of it, I hope to be more sensitive, and more compassionate in the future to people that deal with mental or physical disabilities. Thank you for writing such an inspiring story, it has been a long time since I have been touched so deeply by a book.

New Respect

I loved this novel. The intimate view you get when you look into this family's life is bittersweet. I gained a new respect for families who have disabled children. The stance society took on these children is so harsh and sad. I also loved how real the characters were.

Keeping Keller

This book was wonderful. I felt like I was living in Keller's family. This book was very well researched and written. I couldn't put it down until it was finished.