but how can she do that when the people around her are always chewing gum loudly or making other annoying noises? She knows she can't just say whatever thought comes into her head. While she starts off not believing in herself, in the end, we see how strong, brave, and smart she truly is.About the Book From the author of the critically acclaimed "Braced" comes a story of a girl caught between her love of chess and her ADHD.īook Synopsis Following Braced, which had three starred reviews, comes a story of a girl caught between her love of chess and her ADHD.Ĭlea can't control her thoughts.
It was great to get to feel this from Clea’s point of view. Non-visible illnesses are the hardest to deal with and many people often view them as made up. We are also reminded that she is just a 12 year old kid (one of the hardest ages ever!) and friendships are changing and that kids can be cruel to each other.įocused is a great book for everyone! People who know someone with ADHD, those with it, and frankly, anyone who might come across someone with ADHD or who just needs a work around sometimes. Clea has to learn not be embarrassed by her diagnosis and that asking for what she needs – a quiet room to take a test, a seat away from all of the noises around her – can make all of the difference. There are also different solutions for everyone, but having a plan and a sense that there are people on your side can make all a huge amount of difference. There are many who say that we over-classify people with ADHD, but this book did a really great job of explaining that there are many different ways someone can struggle with the disorder. When she finally goes for a diagnoses and things get explained to her by a doctor who truly listens and doesn’t talk down to her, there is a sense of relief. It’s not until her teachers get together, talk, and bring up the idea that she might have ADHD to her parents that anyone brings that into the picture. Everyone around her, parents and friends, keeps telling her that she just has to try harder, but why is that so hard? Alyson Gerber really managed to capture how Clea felt and how she would often say or do things that she really didn’t want to do. The only thing that she feels she can focus on is chess, but if she doesn’t keep her grades up, she can’t be on the team. Alyson Gerber managed to capture how Clea was feeling – the frustration and the belief that she was stupid and lazy, yet the inability to make changes. That is obvious from the first few pages of the book. With her new book, Focused, Alyson Gerber opens a window in the world of a teenager dealing with ADHD.Ĭlea has undiagnosed ADHD. If I have, it didn’t leave much of a mark on me. I don’t think I have ever read a book about suffering from ADHD.
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