Stuck in Neutral

Rough Draft of Stuck in Neutral Terry Trueman’s Stuck in Neutral is about a boy who has Cerebral Palsy and yet loves his life. Shawn McDaniels has a lot of problems but he remains optimistic. His CP has left him totally disabled; he is unable to walk, talk, eat, or communicate. Although Shawn acknowledges that there is â€Å"Bad News† about his existence, he focuses on the positives in his life. Shawn loves his family deeply and appreciates people. Shawn finds the sensory world of hearing, smell, taste, and inner life, which is filled with his memories and great journeys of his seizures. Shawn is a very loving person. Everyone can see this by how Shawn loves his family and appreciates people. You can see this throughout the book, like Cindy teaching Shawn how to read. Because of Cindy, Shawn now knows how to read, and he now obscene more in the world around him. He loves his father because of what he has done for Shawn. He had Shawn go on a fair ride with him because he felt bad for him, Shawn also appreciates the poem that was made for Shawn and is now a famous poem (pg. 29), and lastly, Shawn has trust in his father because they have double-jointed thumbs and every time he sees Shawn, he would always first pull back his fingers. The reason Shawn’s dad does this is because they have something in common and Shawn loves this special connection (pg. 52). But lastly Paul. Paul because he stood up for Shawn when he was getting attacked by the hoodlums. Shawn says, â€Å"I’ve never seen Paul like this before, he looks like a monster† (pg. 94). These are the reasons why he loves his family the most. Shawn finds the sensory world of hearing, smelling, taste, and touching interesting. Shawn has a very distinct personality. Shawn loves the site of the paintings that he has seen, the feel of the sponge and water on his back when he is taking a bath, the sound a 1966 Ford Mustang and the taste of smoked oysters and chocolate pudding (pg. 84). He has always loved when his father’s arm was around him in the park because he has feared that he may kill him, he feels safe and comfortable in his arms (pg. 98). He also remembers when he was at the science convention that he can remember all the sounds of the music that was playing there. He heard all the songs and could remember them all from the songs, melodies, and symphonies. He has and will always remember the things that he has loved. The personality that sets Shawn apart from everyone else is his inner personality. Shawn loves his inner life of memory and seizures. This is what sets him apart from everyone else. This is because he thinks seizures are miracles. Because it is the only thing that lets him free (pg. 31-32). The joys of his seizures is when he feels like he is free, soaring over Seattle and when he sees the different colors. He feels like that is his only time that he feels normal. He feels normal because he can move like a normal person and feel like a normal person. He would sell his family and his friends just to keep his seizures. He would do anything just to keep his seizures. â€Å"I would even give up my family and friends just to keep my seizures†, Shawn. In the book, Shawn faces a lot of obstacles in his life. But then he had some good times, like his love for his family, his sensory world of hearing, smell, taste, and touch, and his love for his inner life of memory and seizures. He doesn’t care that he has CP, he just want to live his life to the fullest. Everyone can learn from this because now we can say that we are lucky to have a normal life and we can be grateful to not have problems with our body