Helen Keller: Rebellious Spirit

“Lawlor looks with affec­tion and hon­esty at the whole woman… this well-research biog­ra­phy places Keller square­ly in the con­text of her times.…” (Book­list, starred review)

“…this biograhy sheds new light on this extra­or­di­nary woman.” (Pub­lish­ers Qual­i­ty Library Ser­vice, starred review)

“[Lawlor] cap­tures Keller’s zeal, whether brave­ly ven­tur­ing into the ocean or … to top­ple her saint­ly image.” (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly, starred review)

“Lawlor’s fine­ly craft­ed and live­ly biog­ra­phy…” (School Library Jour­nal, starred review)

“This book will astound your lis­ten­ers.” (School Library Jour­nal, Kath­leen Bax­ter in “We Could be Heroes,” Decem­ber 2001)

“…Lawlor does a fine job of peel­ing back lay­ers of her achieve­ments to reveal their cost and assess the extent to which Keller ful­filled her own dream of main­stream­ing with the sight­ed, hear­ing world. … there is addi­tion­al spark from Lawlor’s sharp insights.…” (Bul­letin of the Cen­ter for Chil­dren’s Books)

“[Lawlor] uncov­ers much of the com­plex­i­ties of Keller’s life: the prick­ly per­son­al­i­ty of teacher Anne Sul­li­van; the rela­tion­ship of Helen and Anne with Helen’s fam­i­ly and the cul­ture of the deep south; how both­er her fame and her fam­i­ly con­spired to keep Helen more as a sym­bol than as a per­son rich in per­son­al­i­ty and con­tra­dic­tion.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“…Keller’s per­sis­tent abil­i­ty to rein­vent her­self, echoes through­out Lau­rie Lawlor’s absorb­ing and vig­or­ous­ly researched biog­ra­phy of the most famous deaf and blind per­son in his­to­ry.” (Horn Book Mag­a­zine)

“Most adults know about Helen Keller, the lit­tle girl who went blind and deaf at age 19 months. But our chil­dren and young peo­ple may not know the account. This book is for them, easy to read with lots of fas­ci­nat­ing pic­tures.” (Prov­i­dent Book­find­er)