ADHD and Me by Chelsea Radojcic Illustrated by Leonie Cheetham

Chelsea Radojcic knows my big appreciation for every work she writes. Very young writer, I discovered her casually one day of last year, maybe in this moment of the year when I picked up: The Lonely Teddy Bear thanks to NetGalley. I thought: oh look what a wonderful cover (a pic taken by Chelsea, that one is another great hobby of the writer) for discovering later that what I was reading with great pleasure, a bucolic tale at first, became dramatically the story of a terrible serial-killer. I felt a big tension, I felt that the sensations I was proving moved my soul pretty deeply touching chords that just big writers, with very good thriller books are able to do. I thought: "Good Lord, this writer is very talented!" Honest.

In this latest work, Chelsea proposes herself as writer of children's books and with great success.

The book ADHD and Me  treats a theme dear to the author, because she directly affected by it. Illustrated by Leonie Cheetham, the book presents  vibrant, extremely colored, positive and poetic illustrations. Dream, lightness, the utilization of birds messenger of good thoughts, happy, smiling, with warm and bright colors, big eyes and sunny family, the kid is portrayed as a wonderful creature, the story wants to reassure everyone:  in the difficulties of the moment the situation is positive although there are some fights before to winning the main war.

The girl portrayed in the book, Malory suffers of ADHD, attention deficit hyperactive disorder. the name of this syndrome.
What does it mean?
That substantially the kid affected by this illness won't never pay too much attention during lessons at school because her/his brain run at a wonderful velocity and it can't stay focused too much just on a topic per time, but must find space continuously for other things, and situation and thoughts. And same is in all the other situations the kid lives. At home, with schoolmates, with friends.

It can be defined like a chaotic colored mind the one of an ADHD kid. Sometimes, for keeping all the thoughts in the places where they should stay and for relaxing the brain  it's necessary to use some pills for a stabilization of the situation and some therapeutic help as well.

These pills tell the protagonist of this short story, Malory, are good, but also bad, can hurt the belly, can causing headache and discussions between her parents. "She shouldn't take any medicine. She is fine like she is" and so on.

And this illness tells Malory means something else: it means to be unique, maybe because the brain is a bit more sly than the other ones and it wants more freedom and minutes-hour-off from that moment and from reality for going here and there and being back and leaving again... These kids in grade to read and seeing reality under a different perspective and this is precious.

This children's book is born tells Chelsea for encouraging families and children affected by this illness but also parents and children with other pathologies  as well. The main message is to staying positive  thinking always that an illness can  be lived in the sufferance also like an opportunity: for the kid  the one to be different, the one to be unique and tells Chelsea through Malory, it is OK to be different and wonderfully unique! For parents a moment for cementing their love for a right cause where it's necessary to give good and positive feedback to their kid. 
Stay strong and positive! as Chelsea's family did with maturity with her. They donated to Chelsea the opportunity to express herself. Chelsea is a wonderful example of an ADHD kid becoming now a writer of great, interesting books. Not bad, no?

Many thanks for this ebook Chelsea!

 

Anna Maria Polidori