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| Books to guide you through every stage of designing a garden, from site assessment to drawing up plans and selecting suitable materials. Learn how to assess your site and experiment with design ideas that fit well with the garden's surroundings.
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Rex: A Mother, Her Autistic Child, and the Music that Transformed Their Lives | 
| Author: Cathleen Lewis
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $14.90
You Save: $10.09 (40%)
New (26) Used (6) from $13.89
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 46345
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1595551506
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.85270092
EAN: 9781595551504
Publication Date: October 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The inspiring story of Rex, a boy who is not only blind and autistic, but who also happens to be a musical savant. How can an 11-year old boy hear a Mozart fantasy for the first time and play it back note-for-note perfectly-but struggle to navigate the familiar surroundings of his own home? Cathleen Lewis says her son Rex's laugh of total abandon is the single most joyous sound anyone could hear, but his tortured aversion to touch and sound breaks her heart and makes her wonder what God could have had in mind. In this book she shares the mystery of Rex and the highs, lows, hopes, dreams, joy, sorrows, and faith she has journeyed through with him.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
From a Broken Heart to a Full Heart January 9, 2009
Rex
A Mother, Her Autistic Child and the Music that Transformed Their Lives
Author Cathleen Lewis
Published by Thomas Nelson
2008
Genre Non Fiction/Biography
Reviewed by Cindy Loven
From A Broken Heart to a Full Heart
Cathleen Lewis and her husband George excitedly were expecting their first baby, and then the call that no expectant mother wants to receive comes, an abnormality on her sonogram. A cyst on her baby's brain. A curve ball in life for sure, a life that Cathleen and George had placed their hopes and dreams on. But little Rex born with the cyst and later operated on, would not fulfill their dreams, well not in the way they originally dreamed them, especially after the diagnosis of blindness. The wear and tear of raising a disabled child takes its toll on their marriage and Cathleen finds herself a single mom with a child who has disabilities she does not even begin to comprehend, it is overwhelming.
Follow the story of Rex and Cathleen as they struggle to face each challenge, to rise and conquer those challenges and to Cathleen's discovery of faith. This true story will tug at your heart strings, and make you want to read more, you will laugh, cry and be amazed at Rex's story. You will meet a fighter, actually two fighters, both Rex and Cathleen fight to struggle through the challenges of the disabilities Rex has, but the introduction of music to Rex will be the key to overcoming.
A heartwarming story, much of the world learned about Rex after he was on the tv show 60 Minutes and introduced as a prodigious musical savant, you will travel with Rex as he gets to meet a young British man who is also a savant. Read through this book and see music bring to life a child trapped in his disabilities. This story was beautifully written by Rex's mother and such a inspiration to her faith and testimony. I give this book 5 stars.
A Real Story Compellingly Written January 9, 2009
What I Liked:
Cathleen Lewis is a great writer. She describes the events with such detail and precision that you can feel this story. Speaking of the frustration of being kept away as doctors were strolling her newborn toward ICU Lewis describes it thus: "I lunged behind the bed as they hurried past, my reflexes sharpened by a potent cocktail of anxiety and love". Such eloquent writing is throughout the book.
Yet, Rex is not simply well written. Rex also is raw, gritty, and real. You can feel the mother's heart breaking each time news is given of how difficult life is going to be for her son. I found myself sharing in the author's anger and bewilderment at the broken school systems. This book shows raw emotion: you can sense the underlying anger at the husband that abandoned her, the constant battle of "why God", the pride of seeing her son perform, and a deep sense of what a mother's love really is. What a great book, I found myself not able to put it down! I hope she writes another book as Rex grows more.
What I Disliked:
Perhaps a fitting "sequel" would be a real look at Cathleen's faith during such a time. As you read this book you sense that God is there and that her faith is real. However, it seems as if God is in the background and that her view of Him is more of a magical genie. Then you read the last chapter and realize this is not the case at all. You see that her faith is much deeper, more grounded, and quite real. I would like to read a book with God in the foreground and Rex in the background. I understand the aim of this book and it very much serves its purpose, yet, after reading that last chapter I think there is a story in here that is yet to be told.
Should You Buy It?
I most certainly would suggest it to anyone. It's such a well put together book and a wonderful story of God's grace, a mother's love, and how much we really can get through. It's a great book.
Read this and be inspired!! January 9, 2009
Today I have experienced a bit of sensory overload. I've been reading about a delightful young man named Rex. More specifically, I've been reading the book his mother, Cathleen Lewis wrote about her journey into the world of an autistic musical savant. Her book, Rex, is both profound and beautiful. The only child she would ever mother on this earth came to her broken with little promise that he would ever really live. How much greater God's ways are than our own! How far beyond our understanding!
God used the gift of this little boy to draw Cathleen Lewis into His love and grace and forever change her life - her very purpose for living. If I had read nothing today but the precious Reflections chapter, I would have been abundantly blessed! However, this book contains so many wonderful examples of how first one challenge, then another were overcome as Rex's mind reached a point at which it wanted to move forward. Once his musical "voice" was discovered it was as if his entire world came alive.
All along the way, Cathleen Lewis was pouring out her love and her every breath over this precious gift from God. She had to learn to trust God when it was terrifying. She had to learn to let go when she really wanted to hang on. She had to push her son in ways she never dreamed. The result? A beautiful mother/son relationship that has indeed blessed thousands around the globe. Rex's music and laughter have brightened many lives and given Cathleen a purpose far beyond anything she ever dreamed or imagined.
I want to close with a couple of thoughts from the book that sort of encapsulate the message I received upon its reading. These are life-lessons that can encourage all of us regardless of our circumstances.
Living in a constant state of uncertainty for so long grows new trusting muscles, helping to pry loose old agendas and conditioning. You either let go and trust or your body and mind fall apart over time. ( p. 233)
It was like He (God) was telling me to look past my own mind, and just trust. Hear My voice in the music. Hear each note. Don't worry about where it's going. Just hear the sound and know that it's beautiful...and know that I am God. (p 234)
What a blessing! I highly recommend this book, and hope you will pick up your copy today!
Easy Read January 9, 2009
This book keeps you wanting to know more. It has a readability factor not found in all books. You learn the journey we take as mother's hurt for their children. The spiritual journey as well as the acceptance of a wonderful child.
Rex- Inspiring! January 8, 2009
Rex is an inspiring story of a mother's dedication and intense love for her blind, autistic son. Her dreams are shattered when Rex was born with a brain tumor, and at 4 months old, doctors discovered he was blind. As he grew, he displayed autistic tendencies and was later diagnosed with Autism. Rex discovered the gift of music when he was just two years old, after receiving a keyboard for his birthday. Music became the tool that allowed him to begin to communicate with the outside world. Rex went from being a blind little boy who couldn't walk, talk, or tolerate tactile stimulation to perfectly playing an entire Bach aria after hearing the piece only once. His "spaghetti legs" and speechless lips became alive after playing the piano. Rex is called a musical genius and now travels the world playing the piano.
This "love story" as Catheleen, Rex's mother, calls it, will touch your heart. You can't help but let Rex into your heart as you read about his journey. You will cry, pray and rejoice with Rex. You wonder how Cathleen had the strength to go on another day. You hear how her faith in God and His love carried her though and gave her life when she felt she could not go on.
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