Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world by Sy Montgomery Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012 This book is recommended for young readers from 10 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 960L (MetaMetrics) Awards - ALSC Notable Children’s Books, 2013
Back in 2010, an HBO movie called Temple Grandin introduced many people to this fascinating woman, but I’ll confess that I was late to the party. I’d never seen the movie and I’d never read too much about her. This book changed all that and I hope others will read it and be as moved as I was. This biography by Sy Montgomery features a foreword by Temple herself. In those three pages she tells us that she “was one of those kids who did not fit in”, but she found ways to make her unique skills and her different abilities (and she has many) work for her. She encourages young people who might be struggling to find their niche and ends her introduction with these words, “I hope that my story will encourage you to find your own passions and to follow them”. With the very first page, opposite a sweet picture of baby Temple, author Montgomery introduces us to the little girl and describes vividly some of the sensations she experienced. Montgomery calls the chapter, “Senses on Fire”. We learn that for Temple loud noises were actually painful, that much of her every day clothing felt like “sandpaper” or even “needles”, and that scents like perfume could be so overwhelming and distracting that Temple couldn’t focus on anything else. Even every day speech was difficult for the child to comprehend as consonants did not register at all. We learn that in the early ‘50s autism was not widely known. The term itself was first published in 1943 and doctors at the time thought it was a form of schizophrenia (p. 20). Over 70 years later we see that “autism is still very poorly understood” and that there is “no definitive medical test” for it (p. 21). The author takes care not only to tell us about what living with autism was like for her subject, but also how it can affect others. But this book is about so much more than autism! I loved how the author shares tons of photos with us of Temple over the years as well as her friends, her home, her schools, and her inventions. Even better, for me, are Temple’s sketches. For example, the front and back endpapers are reproductions of her design for the University of Missouri Large Animal Clinic. (It also appears on page 88 opposite the chapter called, “Humane by Design”.) Sprinkled unobtrusively throughout the book are Temple’s pencil sketches of farm animals like cows, horses, pigs, and sheep. They are so simply rendered, yet the drawings have so much movement and meaning. They feel so peaceful! I feel the drawings are important to Temple’s story. I came to be in awe of her dedication to the creatures we humans raise for food. Temple has an incredible ability to empathize with the animals, what she calls her “cow’s eye view” (p. 85), that she was able to make recommendations for changes that improved the meat-industry processes not only for the animals, but for their human handlers as well. Which brings me to this confession: I love a good steak as much as the next person. I often have to make a conscious effort not to think too hard about what it is I’m eating. Parts of this book were hard for me to read. It was really troubling and difficult to read about the kosher processing plant (p. 101-103), for instance. I don’t know that I will ever be able to get the images out of my head, but I couldn’t help but be encouraged by the work that Temple Grandin is doing. She understands that there are always going to be slaughterhouses and feedlots. I was heartened by her words, “I’ve seen the ranches and feedlots and meat plants…where the people treat the animals right. The animals were happy and healthy. They can live better lives on a ranch than most animals live in the wild” (p. 106). I said this book was about so much more than autism, but it is also about so much more than meat processing improvements. The author writes, “Temple’s story is about far more than overcoming a disability. (She) shows us the courage and creativity of a person who found the…blessings of a different kind of brain, that along with its challenges may also bring extraordinary gifts” (p. 9). The author shares a quote from Plato right before the foreword, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”. There is so much wisdom in that one sentence and so much power in those two words, “Be kind”. What a wonderful place this world would be, for humans AND animals, if we could all follow this advice! Kirkus Reviews calls this, “a well written, admiring and thought-provoking portrait” of “an exceptional woman who, remarkably, made use of her condition to discover her calling”. I think this book is an excellent choice for young readers who might be struggling with self-confidence. This age (10 to 14) is a tough time for many and a lot of kids could relate to much of Temple’s story. She had a devoted and loving mother, but her father was a real jerk. She had close friends in elementary school, but the kids at her new school in 7th grade were cruel and she struggled there. I loved a quote the author used from the director of admissions at Hampshire Country School. Temple’s mother enrolled her there midway through 9th grade after she was expelled from her previous school. Bill Dickerman says, “Think Harry Potter and Hogwarts School for Wizards. Until he went to Hogwarts, Harry Potter was out of place. Nobody understood him. He was weird. The magic talents he had were scary. But then he found a place where he suddenly was in his world” (p. 48; italics are mine). Temple wouldn’t have known Harry Potter back in the ‘60s when she found her “world” at Hampshire Country School, but for 21st century kids, this analogy might be encouraging. This is a great book for anyone trying to find their place. Author Montgomery provides a great list of resources in the book for additional information. I don’t know how many young readers will want to check out www.meatami.com, The American Meat Institute (p. 138), but several of the sites such as www.templegrandin.com and www.grandin.com (p. 136) will be of interest. Another site worth a look is www.wrongplanet.net (p.137) which provides great resources for those on the autism spectrum as well as their families and friends. There is also a link to a Ted Talk where one can “meet” Temple and hear what she has to say about “the gifts of autism” (p. 137). For more on Temple’s story, readers might want to borrow the HBO movie, Temple Grandin, from the library. This 2010 biopic, starring Claire Danes as Temple, is rated TV-PG so it is suitable for children and young adults. This movie received over 30 awards from various organizations and was nominated for many more. The awards it won included a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television for lead actress Danes (who also won an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild award for her performance) as well as a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Mick Jackson). Resources: Montgomery, S. (2012). Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. Kirkus Reviews. (2012, February 15). [Review of the book Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sy-montgomery/temple-grandin/ Jackson, M. (Director), & Bellows, G. (Producer). (2010). Temple Grandin [DVD]. United States: HBO Films. Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780606359870/ Temple Grandin (n.d.) In Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278469/awards
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