2 out of 4 stars
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In Alice Crespo’s autobiographical book, Never Be Discouraged: With God All Things Are Possible, we are taken on a journey from the time of Alice’s birth as a blind girl in an era where disabilities were not seen as differences, but as a curse, to the signing of the ADA and her own founding of an outreach for the disabled.
It was a good read and highlighted some important points, such as the mistaken belief held by some of Alice’s family members that lack of healing equates to lack of faith; the discrimination in the education system, assuming that children with disabilities don’t need to know how to do anything as they will always be eligible for welfare; the judgmental expressions of others when they are inconvenienced by having to accommodate a disabled individual; and the difficulty of life as a disabled person without the financial support to get the help you really need. The author went through it all in this book.
That being said, I felt that the book read, at times, like the “Acknowledgments” section that is sometimes found at the end of a novel. There were a lot of people named and events somewhat described, but it didn’t seem overly connected to the novel, which seemed to lack a concrete message. A lot was discussed, but it seemed disconnected, rambling, and repetitive. There are also a lot of clichés, but the author states that her mother seemed to never run out of sayings, so perhaps it’s hereditary.
There were quite a few grammar issues within the book as well, such as missing words, doubling up on words, or double phrasing in the same sentence. It frequently read as though a child had written it, in that it didn’t contain many complexities of language; however, we know that this book was written by an adult because of the events detailed therein. That is not to say that some of the issues weren’t complex, but they were explained and resolved in a less-than-satisfactory manner for my tastes.
This book would be a good read for a disabled person or for someone who is close to an individual with a disability. It had some good information and a list of resources for disabled individuals to utilize at the very end of the book; however, it was not overly pertinent to my life and was not entertaining enough that I would pick it up for leisure reading. As such, I give Never Be Discouraged a rating of 2 out of 4 stars.
The biblical expression, “All things are possible with God” comes up a few times in the book, and while the author gives the credit to God, I read the story of a strong, determined woman who overcame many obstacles to become a contributor to society and a strong supporter of equal rights for people with disablities.
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Never Be Discourage: With God All Things Are Possible
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Thank you for this very honest review, I enjoyed reading it.
Thank you for your insightful review. 
