![]() Cummings also hinted at two possible relationship interests, and I wish that would have been explored a little more- then I could have stayed in this universe a little longer, which I would have been happy about.Gr 7 Up-Michael "Digger" Griswald, from The Red Kayak (Dutton, 2004), takes center stage here. I felt for her when Meredith was struggling with the friendship, and Natalie just wanted her to be there, but I am glad that they were able to bond more in the end. I also wish that I could have gotten to know Bree a little better, but as Natalie said it should be for both her and me maybe a mourning of what could have been. ![]() Some of the events in the book could have been foreshadowed a little less and they would have had a greater effect on me, but that doesn't detract too much. I got to watch her grow, accept, and her desire to overcome shine through in the end. Natalie is a realistic character, and I could understand what she must have felt and gone through. Cummings has a good voice, and she wrote pretty well developed characters. I enjoyed this one, as I do most stories of this type. And I really don't like being beaten over the head with these "moral" lessons and things that teens ALREADY know is bad for them. I respect the author for wanting to raise awareness about blindness, but this was 95 percent informative and 5 percent actual novel. So, I found Blindsided to be extremely disappointing. And if cutters are so desperate for attention than why do they HIDE their cuts with long sleeves and bracelets? Sorry. I have friends who have been cutters and I can say that cutting is not "a little juvenile" phase. But one quote that really got my blood boiling was the one that one student said about her cutting. "Oh!, so and so is blind because he wanted to get high off choking themselves!". And then there was the issue of the choking game. First, there was a minor detail about the students wanting guns to be illegal and adding "Oh, so and so, is blind because someone shot him in the head. It seemed like the author had a bit of an agenda. Blindsided also seemed a bit too preachy for me as in telling "Look! This is what happens when you do these bad things!" and it came off condescending. I understand that she was the main character, but the author should have given the supporting characters more to do. There was also very little development to the other characters besides Natalie. In fact, the book just dragged on because very little actually happened after you remove the informative part. There's very little that happens besides informing you of what blindness is like. It tells you sort of what it's like to lose your vision. That being said, I think that Blindsided is one of those books where the overall plot doesn't reach the potential that it can. And then to completely lose it while you're a teenager must make it that much harder to adapt with everything else that goes on in your life. It must be especially difficult for someone who is used to having vision and then slowly lose it. I honestly can't even imagine how it is to be blind. I really liked the premise of Blindsided. I give this book a rating of 4 not especially for the quality of the plot and the writing but for the insight a teenage reader can gain about the sightless and their world. Cummings tried to present blindness not as a disability but as a life challenge to be conquered. I as a reader was empathetic to Natalie’s worries and concerns and my thought is that Ms. I was very impressed with the author’s detail regarding the adjustments that one has to make to survive as a blind person in a sighted world. The book would be an easy read for an early teen but the subject matter would be very valuable for any teen. Will she hide from the world or will she be brave and find a way to be successful in her new world. ![]() She has difficulty accepting the changes she must make in her life. Natalie’s world is turned upside down when she has to leave her family, her school, and her friends. In order to prepare her for a future as a blind person in a sighted world, Natalie’s parents send her to a school for the blind. Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings is about fourteen-year-old Natalie who is losing her eyesight due to a congenital eye disease.
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