The Mango Princess Book Report

Book Reaction

1. What book did you read?

“Where is the Mango Princess?” by Cathy Crimmins

2. Choose a person from the book who does NOT have the communication disorder for answering questions #3 and #4. (For example, a family member or caregiver. In some cases it could be the author of the book.) Think about their relationship before the injury and how the person’s life changes due to the injury. What person did you select?

Cathy Crimmins, the author and wife of Alan.

3. What was the relationship between the person you chose and the person with the disorder before the communication problem became a factor? (If it is an acquired disorder [onset later in life] you will want to discuss or speculate how they interacted before the communication

Cathy mentions in her book how Alan’s self-awareness was totally different. Alan had poor practical judgment. Unlike before, he would use curse words in his speech, get extremely angry, bash objects, and masturbate in public. Cathy tries to teach him the right manners and often yells at Alan for doing something wrong. Cathy also talks about how she misses “old Alan” who she use to have discussions about books and go to the theatre with. However, Alan was not only person who changed from the injuries. Cathy was changed as well. She had to be the “leader” of the family with Alan being sick. Cathy mentions a story in her book how Alan tried to call “the other Cathy” when she was sitting next to him. This shows how different Cathy was now and how much Alan misses the “old

Now, from your own perspective, what did you learn about this disorder (factual or personal) that you had not previously considered? (If you read one of the parent/public education books, summarize some of the major points in the book and write to the usefulness of the material to the target audience)

What I learned about this disorder that I had not previously considered was the personality change in the person with the disorder. Alan had an injury on his frontal lobe of the brain and that caused him to become a new person. His personality was changed completely. He was more angry, inconsistent, fractious, and obsessive. He was even very mean and cruel to his daughter who he used to love very much.

6. Discuss at least three things that impressed you or caused you to think differently as a result of reading the book.

Cathy, the author and the wife, impressed me the most as a result of reading the book. She did not hesitate to fight with the health-care system. She negotiated with both Canada’s national health care system and United States’ private health care system. The next thing that impressed me was speed of Alan’s recovery. Alan not only recovered very quickly, but also regained much of his former self and abilities. The last thing that impressed me as a result of reading the book was Cathy’s personal experiences she mentions in her book. Cathy talks about many experiences in the book that normal people would avoid talking about to the public, like her sexual life