- Paperback: 268 pages
- Publisher: BeWrite Books (12 Feb 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1904492940
- ISBN-13: 978-1904492948
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 12.7 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,513,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Fate dealt to Daryl from the bottom of the deck. During pregnancy, his mother took a common prescription drug that doomed him to a life without arms. But streetwise Daryl's a fighter - self-styled Thalidomide Kid superhero at heart - and he's sworn to play his rogue cards against all the odds. Kate Rigby's gritty novel follows him through a bittersweet journey of fear and determination, failure and conquest, blind prejudice . and forbidden love. For the first time in a work of fiction, Rigby lifts a corner of the veil to reveal the cruel and uncomfortable face of the thalidomide horror that crippled a generation. Thalidomide produced suicides and heroes. Daryl is a special case. You'll never forget him. Kate Rigby bravely presents grim reality in a story that pitches full-bodied spirit against seemingly insurmountable physical inadequacy.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I liked this. It's very 1970s, very "schooldays", very good detail about its time and place. It hangs together nicely, keeps the story ticking along. I enjoyed reading it. I hope I learned something about thalidomide too - I don't know if Daryl is typical? But hats off to those kids, and to Kate Rigby for making them come alive so well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Thalidomide Kid is a poignant and atmospheric study of cultural and personal rites of passage. As the sixties give way to the seventies, two young people negotiate puberty. When Daryl holds Celia's hand firmly in his thalidomide 'claw', they are both safe. But when family and fashion pull apart this pair of star-crossed lovers, it is the more privileged Celia who comes off worst. More used to adversity, better equipped, despite his lack of arms, Daryl is able to use wit and hard work to secure a future that no-one would have predicted for a member of the troubled Wainwright clan.
Kate Rigby's tender and evocative account never slips into sentimentality. Her characters are good company and their story is full of hope and humanity.
Kate Rigby's tender and evocative account never slips into sentimentality. Her characters are good company and their story is full of hope and humanity.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
A great book for young adults dealing with high school BS.
15 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's a great coming-of-age story about a boy who happens to be handicapped/crippled rather than a story about a handicapped/crippled kid. The subject matter had potential to get sappy and melodramatic, but Rigby keep things realistic and gritty. Rigby's characters are deep, complex, and well-rounded. Daryl's a low-class kid who's trying to win the girl and be the first in his family to make it through high school despite not having any arms. His love interest, Celia, is from an upper-middle-class family but trapped in her own world of problems and needs Daryl more than he needs her.
The only drawback was that the novel is set in South-Western England during the 1970s. The slang was a bit hard to understand at times and, as an American, I couldn't understand the British education system, but these things didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story.
Loved it and I'll read more of Kate Rigby's novels.
The only drawback was that the novel is set in South-Western England during the 1970s. The slang was a bit hard to understand at times and, as an American, I couldn't understand the British education system, but these things didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story.
Loved it and I'll read more of Kate Rigby's novels.
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