About the author:
\nBrian Trapp \;is director of disability studies at the Unive rsity of Oregon\, where he also teaches fiction and nonfiction. His work h as been published in the \;Kenyon Review\, \;Southern Review\,&nbs p\;Longreads\, \;Brevity\, and elsewhere. He has been a Steinbeck Fell ow\, a Borchardt Scholar\, and an Elizabeth George grant recipient. He gre w up in Cleveland\, Ohio\, with his twin brother\, Danny.
\n
Tr
ansforming perceptions of disability and interdependence through tender at
tention to detail\, \;Range of Motion \;
is wrenching\, beautiful\, and sharply comic.
Twin A and Twin B
. That&rsquo\;s what Michael and Sal&rsquo\;s neuroscientist father irreve
rently calls them. The boys are born moments apart\, but baby Sal&rsquo\;s
brain scan shows a bleed. He has severe cerebral palsy and intellectual d
isabilities.
Told through multiple perspectives&mdash\;Gabe\, the boys&rsquo\; father\; Hannah\, their mother\; and Michael&mdash\;this debu t novel follows the Mitchell family from the boys&rsquo\; infancy to the c usp of adulthood as they all try to interpret what Sal\, who speaks only e ight words\, is thinking and feeling. The twins&rsquo\; upbringing in subu rban Ohio is familiar and unfamiliar\, ordinary and extraordinary\, as thi s middle-class family navigates the challenges and rewards of nurturing a special-needs human with a killer dimple who is utterly and winningly hims elf: sweet\, stubborn\, mischievous\, impenetrable\, and above all\, very funny.
\nMichael feels that he alone understands Sal and devotes him
self to giving his brother a voice in the &ldquo\;normal&rdquo\; world unt
il he grows up and can&rsquo\;t &ldquo\;hear&rdquo\; his twin anymore&mdas
h\;his worst fear. Their mother\, a teacher who has given up her career fo
r caregiving\, and their father\, who is determined to succeed in his rese
arch\, also struggle with the balance of sacrifice and duty and love\, esp
ecially as Sal&rsquo\;s health deteriorates. Before Michael leaves for col
lege\, the twins spend a final week together at a summer camp for people w
ith disabilities\, and Sal does something that changes their lives forever
.
Books will be available for purchase courtesy of
Mac's Backs - Books on Coventry.