Ugly

Product Information

Very sad story, dan di saat yang bersamaan sangat menggetarkan dan memberi semangat, kareana ternyata si kecil Constant Briscoe memiliki "Mimpi", dan kepada mimipnya untuk menjadi seorang pengacara hebat itulah dia berpegang. Karena keteguhan dan mimpinya yang besar itulah ia berhasil melewati berbagai penyiksaan, hinaan, kelaparan, hingga ditelantarkan.

Saya membaca versi Bahasa Inggris buku ini sehingga "feel" dari buku ini lebih terasa dengan gaya oenutur aslinya. Bahasanya cukup mudah dimengerti dan uniknya, gaya bercerita nya membuat kita iba namun tidak berlebihan, karena sang tokoh nyata Constant Briscoe sendiri tidak mau melebih lebihkan penderitaan yg dia alami. Alih alih menjadi sedih berkpenajngan, di setiap bab nha kita akan melihat betapa gigih perjuangannya. Narrated by the author, and he did a really good job of reading the book. Loved the tone and inflection. Robert was born with a huge tumour covering his face, he required numerous surgeries to construct a face he likens to a clay sculpture gone wrong..

I'm impressed, not just that Hoge chose to tell the story of his life (including the fact that his mother didn't want to take him home for a month after he was born), but also that he chose to tell it for a middle grade audience and did it — in my opinion — very well. He talks in a matter-of-fact way about both his facial differences and his physical disabilities due to his deformed legs, using simple but not condescending language. He talks about being teased and being stared at, but he also talks about learning to do handstands with the neighbor girls, playing pranks on his schoolmates, and finding — after many attempts! — a physical activity that he could excel at. He has a dry sense of humor that made me laugh out loud multiple times. Although I think Wonder is also a good book, I can see a lot of reasons to hand this book to middle-grade readers instead if you really want to have a conversation about facial differences.

I should have cringed or felt embarrassed or angry at those two women. I felt those things, at least in part. But I just wanted to laugh. Lady, if only you knew how much I wished I was this ugly because I was allowed to play football!” This is not a book about heroes overcoming all adversities, but I particularly liked the (to me) typically Australian outlook on life: you just make the best of what you've got. By his own account, and with more than a dollop of a very dry sense of humour, Robert was a loud, cheeky kid, who got into just as much mischief as any other boy his age. I particularly liked his recollection of sand-papering his school desk so much he managed to sand a hole in it. As you'd expect for someone who's been a journalist and a political speechwriter, he writes well. His style is casual, friendly and easy to read. There's a smattering of science-fiction mentions - for some reason I was expecting more - and he's had some remarkable highlights in his life (including being friends with writer Hugh Lunn, who is a bit of a hero of mine).

Robert was born with a tumour on his face that severely altered his facial features. His legs were also severely deformed. (I never realised how badly until I read his book, but then it's never concerned me.) His mother rejected him at birth, but reconsidered and accepted him as her own. His father seems to be everything good about the typical Australian male. This book is about a girl which has been mistreated and emotionally destroyed by her mother. She was always the one to blame between her siblings. Constance was called "Ugly" by her mother several times and has always felt very unwanted in the family, so she looked for Social services to take good care of her. Throughout the book, the writer describes how the child has suffered and was abused by her mother. This is nonfiction that I believe is written for kids. There are cute illustrations and the language is easy and simple to understand. There are some pretty detailed descriptions of surgeries which may put people off, but I found them really interesting and I'm a pretty big wuss when it comes to anything medical. Apparently, some of the ones Hoge received were quite experimental and other people benefited from the groundwork laid by his own procedures, which is pretty cool. He's also incredibly relatable. His fights with siblings, his hobbies, and, you know, his desires to make friends and have relationships is something I think that a lot of kids from all walks of life want.

I feel guilty about writing this review because it's based on the real accounts of the author, for God's sake. I guess the helplessness of Claire kind of grabbed my heart. After a while, it got repetitive. Although that’s probably what happened in real life, I think it’d be better if the suffering was cut short and leaded to the healing instead.If you have any suggestions for ugly covers you want me to include in this article, just post them (the URL of the image) in the comments section. Even so, I didn’t think the author’s writing skills was anything to “write home about”, as she puts it. It was average. Nothing spectacular. The story was really what made the book. Her story is one worth telling. I think a lot of authors struggle to come up with something that people will want to read. This is one story that needed no embellishments.