Awards:
The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes: A Mother's Story is the recipient of the 2011 Great Lakes College Association New Writers Award in creative non-fiction.
Learn more here:
http://www.glca.org/component/content/article/249-glca-announces-winners-of-2011-new-writers-award
Interviews:
Listen to an interview with Randi Davenport on NPR's The State of
Things:
http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/
Download a podcast of William Friday's interview with Randi on North Carolina People:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/
Rave reviews for The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes:
"Davenport delivers a beautifully written, much-needed memoir that sheds
light on the ways mental illness can reverse the orbit of a family and
ultimately, how the efforts of one mother helped rebuild a life and family she
thought she had lost."--ForeWord Reviews
"Randi Davenport’s The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes (Algonquin) is about her son Chase’s psychotic breakdown at age 15. One doctor diagnosed him as “ ‘Chase NOS’—Chase Not Otherwise Specified. ‘He’s a population of one,’ ” as is this unforgettable memoir of a shattered family, a mother’s abiding love, and the frightening permutations of the human mind."--Lisa Shea, Elle Magazine
"Davenport’s skills as a writer
are stunning. While taking nothing away from Chase’s journey, it is Davenport’s
complete command of her craft that takes readers through an unpleasant,
uncomfortable tunnel of despair and adroitly leads them to the light on the
other side."--Terry Mathews, Arts Editor, Sulphur Springs News-...Telegram
Read the whole review:
http://www.myssnews.com/mysslife/reviews/book-reviews/10551-tornadoes-dragons-and-the-nightmare-of-mental-illness-a-young-mans-journey-na-mothers-faithful-heart.html
"A heartbreaking, disturbing, and truly courageous story of one mother's fight to save her son."-- Alice Hoffman
“A gripping memoir of motherly love
and absolute devotion.”
--Kirkus Reviews
"A brave and beautiful story by a born writer. This is a book like a beacon, offering clarity, inspiration, and validation for us all, especially those of us, like myself, who have struggled with serious mental illness in our families...and that's two out of five families in the United States." -- Lee Smith
"Randi Davenport has written a miraculous book about the heartbreak and devastation that occur when her son is diagnosed with severe mental illness. The Boy Who Love Tornadoes is a gripping and deeply compelling book about a mother's search for the proper care and treatment of her psychotic son. Davenport shows us the gritty and enraging reality of our long fractured mental health system, even at the best health facilities. Davenport's exacting and beautifully written story, along with her ferocity and unrelenting determination to help her child, make her a formidable advocate for those afflicted with these cruel and often stigmatized diseases. The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes is the best book I've read about mental illness since Kay Jamison's An Unquiet Mind." --Virginia Holman, author of Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad
"This is [Davenport’s] gripping account of that unrelenting battle. It isn’t a medical thriller that climaxes with an 11th-hour cure. The light of its happy ending burns low, but in this courageous mother’s eyes it shines as bright as the sun."--The Boston Globe
Read the full review: http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2010/04/18/short_takes_boston_globe/
"Davenport writes poignantly. .
. . [her] memoir is intensely thorough and affecting." --Publishers Weekly
"The feeling of being overwhelmed, socially hung out to dry without help, will be familiar to most American mothers, except perhaps the very wealthy."--LA Times
Read the full review:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/21/entertainment/la-ca-discoveries21-2010mar21
“Davenport's memoir proves to be one of the best first-person accounts of the impact of mental illness on a family since Virginia Holman's Rescuing Patty Hearst."
Read the full review:
“From Among Millions of Ill, A First Class Memoir”:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20100605/ARTICLES/100609789
“…a memoir of difficulty and caring, frustration and love, despair and intensity…completely …unflinching…this is also the story of a mother fighting for what is best for her son… The writing is stark and precise and…beautiful….”--BookNAround
Read the whole review:
http://booknaround.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-boy-who-loved-tornadoes-by-randi.html
"It is a must read for any parent...I will never look at an autistic child again without being reminded of what this mother said. That is probably the whole purpose of this book and it is why everyone should read it."--Bill Duncan, The Oregon Review
Read the whole review:
http://theduncansonline.com/elderstatesman/
"This is a story with which far too many families can probably identify."--Booklist
Read the whole review:
http://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm?ezine_preview_number=4842
"Randi Davenport's memoir The
Boy Who Loved Tornadoes unflinchingly shares her family's experience with
mental illness. Boldly told, the book skillfully portrays the effects mental
illness on family members while also highlighting the inadequacies of our own
mental health system, and for these reasons The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes is one
of the year's most important books." --David Gutowski, Largehearted Boy
"...an amazing new memoir..." --Melanie Adams-Borgen, The Autism
Society of North Carolina
The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes in the news:
"Battling Chase's Demons"
The News and Observer--Sunday April 4, 2010
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/04/418765/battling-chases-demons.html
"Seven Years Ago, Randi Davenport's Son Fell Apart"
The Charlotte Observer--Sunday April 4, 2010
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/02/1352098/seven-years-ago-randi-davenports.html
"A Mother’s Journey Through the World of Mental Illness"
The Pilot - Wednesday, April 21, 2010
http://www.thepilot.com/news/2010/apr/21/mothers-journey-through-world-mental-illness/
"Mother Tells of Disabled Son's Struggles"
Fayetteville Observer--April 4, 2010
http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2010/04/04/987390
"A mother navigates the system to save her son"--Winston-Salem
Journal, May 9, 2010. Read the whole story:
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/may/09/a-mother-navigates-the-system-to-save-her-son/
"Tornadoes, dragons and the nightmare of mental illness: A young man’s
journey -a mother’s faithful heart"--Sulfur Springs News-Telegram June 15,
2010
http://www.myssnews.com/mysslife/reviews/book-reviews/10551-tornadoes-dragons-and-the-nightmare-of-mental-illness-a-young-mans-journey-na-mothers-faithful-heart.html
