Kevin – The Most Accurate Description of Life with CP Ever
If you ever find yourself working with the disabled population whether it’s in healthcare or teaching or any other profession this book should be required reading.
Fran Macilvey delivers the most raw, honest, and accurate description of what it’s like to live with cerebral palsy I have ever heard. I have CP myself and I love that she pulls no punches and describes in vivid detail the things that I can virtually guarantee everyone who has CP (or any other disability for that matter) has gone through. I have experienced 95% of the circumstances described in this book. I don’t know how she did it, but she finally found the words to describe the emotions that living with a physical impairment carry.
She has given us a key to finally have an open and honest dialogue about the other side of a disability that so many in the disabled community so desperately need.
***
John Pring, Editor, Disability News Service
This is a tough, bleak book, beautifully written and unremittingly honest. Fran’s book is an important addition to the field of disability studies and it deserves to receive a wide audience, both among disabled and non-disabled people.
***
Lovereading.co.uk – the UK’s biggest book recommendation website.
Trapped…is variously heart-warming, terribly sad and emotional. Above all, it is uplifting. Fran comes to terms with her condition and finally learns to love herself. Far from a ‘misery memoir’ Trapped… is a message of inspiration. It’s about why everyone should never give up hope.
***
RALPH Magazine – The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities
Macilvey is a hell of a good writer. We come early on relish her clear and direct writing, her even-handed coolness… A deliciously understated book of the world of disability, especially when Fran, who we come to treasure, lets us in on some of her secrets. Trapped should be on the reading list of all those courses they give in college now…’
***
Emma Crees, blogger and book reviewer
Trapped is the perfect length and combines great writing with a level of honesty I wish I could share in my blogging. It’s a good book and if I had a teen with a disability in my life it’s one I’d want them to read to start their introduction to crip culture and the idea of owning identity and your disability and being your own person. Highly recommended.
***
Editor, Harper Collins
Trapped offers a dark, moving, and incredibly honest insight into living with cerebral palsy…. an insightful, heartfelt, and well-structured account of living with disability at a time when there is a growing audience of those eager to listen.
***
Tod Schneider, Author
Fran excels…first, she has the courage to bare her soul to the reader, a supremely brave act for anyone; second, she tells sometimes very painful truths quite eloquently, without drowning us in despair; and third, while sharing her very human story, she manages to lower the wall between the more generally abled and the visibly disabled, helping us see our commonalities more than our differences.
When I look for real heroes, I’m most impressed by otherwise ordinary individuals who, despite terrible challenges, have repeatedly risen from the ashes, not only to survive, but to do some good in the world. People like Fran. Hers is a great story to share.
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Seth Leach, Amazon reviewer, ‘Trapped’ the audiobook.
Trapped is an inspiring memoir that I had the privilege of listening to and reading for the audiobook. Fran’s story has brought up many significant shifts in my perspective, not only of disabled persons, but the world itself. After going through such a difficult struggle, she surfaces full of grace and peace. She tells an interesting story full of wonderful imagery and a beautiful message.
***
Dr. James MacDonald, associate research fellow and cerebral-palsied playwright
Without intending to, Fran Macilvey exemplifies Diane Arbus’s famous claim that the disabled are the aristocrats of trauma because they face as routine what most people dread. Macilvey’s astonishing life story Trapped is the ultimate in self-help literature.’
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Frank Kusy, Bestselling Author
I can count the books I have been truly inspired by on the fingers of one hand. Trapped is one of those books. It is Fran’s faith and wisdom that make this book special.
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Bernie Leslie, Amazon reviewer
The minute I saw this book, I was intrigued and knew I had to read it. This book is not only beautifully written, but it is a deeply moving, inspirational, funny and remarkably honest account.
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Robert Harwood, Amazon reviewer
I was gripped. We all have something to learn from Fran’s account. It will make salutary reading for professionals. Above all it is extremely well written. I could barely put it down and I commend it highly.
***
David Price, Amazon reviewer
…succinct, engaging and beautiful prose, without a trace of self-pity.
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Mark Cain, Author
Trapped is an exquisitely written account of Fran Macilvey’s life with cerebral palsy….as Macilvey relates to us her struggles to understand and deal with limitations, unenlightened attitudes and most significantly, her own inner demons, you realize that she is telling a universal story. Yes, this is Fran Macilvey’s life, but it is also mine…and yours. I’ve read this story twice, which is something I seldom do, since there are so many great reads out there. Macilvey’s voice, though, is seductive in its beauty.
***
Judy Adams, Author
Trapped is utterly incredible….how important this work is…how captivating.
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