I Can't Stop! A Story about Tourette Syndrome

I Can't Stop! A Story about Tourette Syndrome
Niner, Holly L. 2005. I Can't Stop! A Story about Tourette Syndrome. Ill. by Meryl Treatmer. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman. ISBN: 0807536202.

PLOT SUMMARY
When Nathan's winking, sniffling, and compulsive movements cause problems for him at home and school, he and his family learn that he has Tourette syndrome. With the help of his parents and a good friend, Nathan learns how to cope with this neurological tic disorder.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Nathan’s tics are causing problems for him at home and school. After visiting an eye doctor, Nathan and his parents see a specialist who informs them that Nathan has TS. Nathan ultimately shares the information with his classmates. With the help of his family and best friend, Josh, he practices strategies to cope with his disability.

I Can’t Stop! A Story About Tourette Syndrome is useful as a primer on this fairly common, “as many as one in a hundred,” neurological disorder. Nathan, the protagonist with TS, appears to be about 11 or 12 years old, but the book’s simplistic style and limited vocabulary is targeted to a younger audience, ‘Josh said ...“I’m your best friend, aren’t I?” Nathan felt better. “The best,” he said.’ The story line is also simple, and there is little information offered about Nathan other than his disability.

The book is factually accurate and offers an insider’s look at life with TS, however, at times it reads like a non-fiction book, “When you want to move any part of your body, one area of your brain sends a message to another, said Dr. Phillips. “Chemicals carry these messages. People with tics have too much of a chemical that turns movements on.”

Other times, the dialogue stretches the limits of credibility, as when Nathan tells Josh that he is having difficulty learning to change his tics and Josh replies, “That’s OK ... I practice my spelling words every day, and I still get some wrong.”

Author Holly Niner, was definitely not trying to curry favor with librarians in the writing of I Can’t Stop! When Nathan’s tics cause him to bark twice in the library, Nathan and Josh are summarily ejected by the librarian. While sports and exercise are strongly encouraged for children with TS, non-athletic children may also take issue with this book. Nathan’s only successes come from his prowess on the soccer field and the swim team.

Meryl Treatner’s illustrations are, for the most part, lifelike and believable, particularly Nathan’s facial tics and the expressions of his family members, showing in turn annoyance, concern, and happiness. The depictions of Nathan watching TV with his dad, tapping his pencil at school, and attending swim practice, could be illustrations of any child. Only Treatner’s interpretations of the insensitive children at school are exaggerated. In two instances, they are drawn standing in a group, pointing, snickering, and guffawing in a larger-than-life manner, lacking the deceitfulness which usually accompanies this type of teasing.

Every page but one is illustrated. The colors are realistic, but bright, and the details are meticulous – one can even read the time on Nathan’s mom’s wristwatch. The cover art is an engaging illustration of a winking Nathan and his friend, Josh.

I Can’t Stop! A Story About Tourette Syndrome, will most likely have limited appeal outside the friends, family, and teachers of children with Tourette’s. It is not without merit, but Marcia Byalick’s Quit It, set a standard for books on TS that I Can’t Stop, cannot top.


REVIEW EXCERPTS
"Very few books are available for young audiences on this medical concern; what's out there tends to be nonfiction for older readers. Thus, this title does fill a void."

Vanca, Lynn K. 2005. "I Can't Stop!: A Story about Tourette Syndrome." School Library Journal 51, no. 11: 102-102. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed July 27, 2007).

"Realistic watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, reflect the straightforward intent of the book, which will be useful in libraries and schools serving children struggling with TS."

Mattson, Jennifer. 2005. "I Can't Stop!: A Story about Tourette Syndrome." Booklist 102, no. 6: 52. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed July 27, 2007).

CONNECTIONS
For slightly older readers (ages 9 and up), suggest Quit It by Marcia Byalick. Carrie, Quit It's protagonist, is a likeable and believable character with the same issues that many children face, in addition to TS.

For parents or teachers of children with TS, suggest Children with Tourette Syndrome: A Parents' Guide, edited by Tracy Lynne Marsh. This book is in its second printing and was favorably reviewed by Library Journal and Kirkus Reports.

Public librarians can suggest I have Tourette's but Tourette's doesn't have me, a DVD produced by the Tourette Syndrome Association and HBO.