Beating ADD: Only a Mother Could Love Him

As a fictional account of an exasperating but lovable kid with ADHD, see my reviews of the Joey Pigza trilogy, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Joey Pigza Loses Control, and What Would Joey Do? by Jack Gantos, posted last week.

For a first-person memoir, take a look at Benjamin Polis' Only a Mother Could Love Him, which seemed as if it could have been written by Joey P. (for Problem, as Grandma Pigza named him) Pigza, all grown up and looking back on his childhood. While researching for the Joey Pigza series, I ran across this account of the ADHD child from the inside looking out.

Polis offers a first-person view of growing up torn between his own impulses and others' negative reactions to his behavior. Recognized for his intelligence and talent, Ben seems to have been fortunate in the support of his family and to have benefited from the insight of a few teachers and school administrators who were able to detect ability in the midst of some destructive behaviors. Their forebearance enabled him to stick it out in school through the difficult teen years. How he came to understand himself and his own behavior makes an absorbing read.

It's a long haul with any child, but what we would especially wish for the ADHD child is plenty of this sort of patience, support, and, ultimately, self-understanding.