Friday 24 October 2014

Featured Book: Again David's Having Distractions by Teresa Oliver


Synopsis
Again David's Having Distractions (an acronym for ADHD) is a humorous story of a nine year old boy who absolutely hates school. David, the main character, begins the story by explaining how different he is from the other kids in his class especially his rival Michael Hunter. He uses his strong wit and natural sarcastic nature to ensure the reader totally understands how he feels.
Next, David takes the reader on a small journey into his home life. David comes from an upper middle class prestigious family. He likes to call them "The Perfects"- only David is not so perfect. He has an older sister, Emma, who is a bit of a “priss” and a younger brother, Aaden, who is absolutely adorable. His mom and dad are very stern parents especially when it comes to school.
This year David's class is competing with the rest of his elementary school for winners of this year’s Fall Festival. If his class wins, they get to take a field trip to the local amusement park for a day of fun. Also, within each class there is a competition to see which student has the best game for Fall Festival. David, unfortunately, has to host the worst game of all, Friggin Chicken, and his rival is hosting the game he really wants. Everyone in the entire school thinks this game is the most awful and teases David because he HAS to host this game.
In order for David to not become the laughing stock of the entire school and beat Michael Hunter, he has to be creative and add his "own" special flare to Friggin Chicken. However, when he tries the entire game falls apart. So what can David do? How can he beat Michael Hunter and avoid becoming the laugh in stock of the entire school? You'll have to read to find out!

Currently, Again David’s Having Distractions has been used in several elementary schools to help bring awareness to neurodiversity while also giving students who may feel ‘out of place’ something they can relate to. The children’s story has been review in a Finland magazine, and is being considered in and ADHD conference in the Philippines.


Buy Links     Amazon 

Excerpt

About the Author
Teresa Oliver was born in Gary, Indiana, but she considers herself to be an Atlanta native. She has been in the city for almost 30 years.  Although Teresa grew up with two very supportive parents, she was raised in a single parent home by her mother Judy Lovette. As a young child, Teresa often expressed her creative side through singing and dancing. She was involved in several girl singing groups, and was in chorus from second grade through her senior year in high school. Also as a young child, the author attended Marlene Rounds Dance School in inner city Atlanta. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, and Afro-centric dance. As Teresa was getting older, her mother moved her and her older sister to the suburbs in hopes to provide a better life and for them to have a better education.  Shortly after high school, Teresa gave birth to her son Jayden Oliver. During this time, Teresa discovered her true passion- education. Teresa began her freshman year at Clayton State University in 2005, as an education major. After considering the teacher education program, she decided that education was too rigid and she wanted something with more flexibility. Therefore, she changed her major to psychology. Shortly after graduating, she decided to re-enroll at Clayton State University for a Master’s degree in Applied Developmental Psychology.  Before entering the program, Teresa spent one year as a teacher at a school for students who had unique learning profiles or who were formally labeled “learning disabled.” Shortly after working there, she noticed that many, if not all, of the children were not learning disabled. They simply had a unique way of viewing the world and learning. She knew then it was her job and duty to understand their minds. She also began to notice her son struggling in school. Teresa wanted to use the knowledge she gained in the Master’s program and combine it with her creative writing skills to tell a story. She wanted students who were struggling, whether academically, physically, socially, or emotionally, to have someone or something that they could relate to. Teresa believes, “As a society, we make big deals of individuals who are the best or those who are number one, and we have empathy for those disabilities that are easily seen or easily detected. However, it is the invisible `disabilities’ that are swept under the rug and overlooked.”  So her first novel is for those individuals!
Connect with Teresa online

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