Down Came The Rain & A Child Called It

I have an old blog on Bravenet and recently stumbled across it. When I read books, I'd write about them in blogs all over the internet instead of keeping them in one place. Well, so now I'll collect them as I find them and keep them here!

Down Came The Rain
by Brooke Shields

I saw Brooke Shields' appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show a few months ago and was intrigued with the episode.  The book had just been published and Winfrey was asking questions about Shields' terrifying experience with post partum depression (PPD).  Here was an actress I'd seen over the years and she was being very open about what happened to her.  I would say that is what I enjoyed about the book most of all -- it's very honest.  On the down side, it does get a little repetitive -- I don't need to be told more than once or twice this was the last thing she expected after trying so hard to have a baby. 

The book was easy to read -- Shields seems to write down what she thinks.  I could almost hear her voice recounting what happened.  I think that the title was very apt and very creative.  It's from Shields' favorite nursery rhyme:

The itsy bitsy spider
climbed up the waterspout
Down came the rain
and washed the spider out
Out came the sun
and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider
climbed up the spout again

It was almost literal.  When Shields suffered from PPD, she cried almost all the time.  Once she realized what was happening, got help and began to get better, her life began to improve -- all her rain dried up in the warmth of the emerging sun.  I liked the image--it's very very clear.

I'm glad that she wrote the book because I think it will benefit anyone who has a new baby in his or her life:  the moms, the dads, grandparents, and all the friends and relatives.  A mom hopefully won't feel stigmatized or afraid to get help after reading this book.  The people around her will have a better understanding of how serious a problem PPD is.

 

A Child Called "It"
by Dave Pelzer

This was one of the most disturbing books I've read about child abuse.  I can think of only two books that upset me more, Sybil and When Rabbit Howls.  After all the awful things this poor boy went through, it's a miracle that he is not seriously disturbed.  Well...maybe he is and we just don't know it!  This book is the first in a series of three.  As I was reading it I kept wondering, what kind of mother does this to her own child?  Obviously the mother had to be seriously disturbed herself.  Pelzer describes a loving mom early in his life.  She seemed to be affected by alcoholism and possibly some kind of mood disorder.  She had two more babies while she was doing all this drinking and I wondered if they were damaged in any way from fetal alcohol syndrome.  What shocked me as much as the mother's abuse was the father's inability or unwillingness to help his son.  I practically cheered when the boy was finally "rescued" and placed into the foster care system...how ironic is that?  I had so many questions that possibly will be answered if and when I can bring myself to read the next in the series.  It's a very difficult book to read but a very valuable one.