The Acorn People

I was appalled to read some of the ignorance in the reveiws of this book about someones experience. I think he captured the spirit and importance for camps for people with special needs. THe point of the camp wasn't trying to "make' these kids be normal at camp the point was they were haveing a great summer despite their challenges. It wasn't about saying "all the things your suppose to say about handicapped persons" as one review read it was about sharing the initial fears and concern that often people deal with when faced with such a task and showed how it turned to great blessing. I didn't feel this book was about the children but about the change and growth within the writer because of the children. Its a beautiful message that is just a little rough around the edges with the writing skills of the author.

Camp Wiggins was not a place for medically sanitized facilities, safety rails, or strict activity schedules. It was a place for memories to be made, accomplishments, and fantasies to be fulfilled. By no means were the handicaps of the teens attending this camp would burden this in any way. The Acorn People, by Ron Jones, tells a story of how a camp of handicap teens grow together and accomplish more than they could ever dream of doing at a camp made for boy scouts. In this true story, Ron Jones, the camp counselor of a group that goes above and beyond the expectations of camp, ables these teens to work together to climb Mountain Lookout, swim for the first time, and then struggle with getting the approval of the camp owner Mr. Bradshaw. Over all, this story was emotionally filled as well as giving you a new look on people not as fortunate as those not handicapped. The kids in Ron Jones group whom he counseled each were very unique. They all had their different disability as well as something that they were good at. Martin was blind. He was one of the most mobile in the group. He always seemed to have a smile on his face, as well as all the other blind kids at the camp. He always was in motion. Then there was Benny B. Polio had taken both of his legs. He was a speed freak. He could do wheelies and many other things in his wheel chair. Spider was another kid in Ron's cabin. He had no legs or arms. Spider was always alert and loved to talk. He was a so-called "jukebox". Then there was Thomas Stewart. He had muscular sclerosis and weighed about 35 pounds in all. He never talked and you never could tell what he was really thinking. Aaron or "Arid" had no way of the waste in his body to be exerted out of his body. His smell was horrible causing him to not have too many friends, and getting the nickname "Arid". Throughout this story, you saw how each character developed from handicapped boys into outgoing, dream filled young men. This occurs when Thomas actually talks to them for the first time, when Spider shows them all how he's such a great swimmer despite having no limbs, and when Aaron gets crowned King at the dance. The Acorn People gets its title from a conversation that Benny B. and Ron had. Ron was making a necklace made of nuts because he was feeling extremely stressed out. Ron did not have the job as a counselor because he wanted to work with handicap teens, but he had the job because he needed one. He was not prepared at all to have to change sheets every night from the bed wettings that occurred, or to feed many of them individually. He decided to make this necklace of acorns to express how "nuts" he felt being there. While he was doing this, Benny B. walks over asking him what the necklace was for. At first Ron didn't answer him but then, after constantly being asked by Benny he told him how he felt a little nuts being here and so he thought the necklace to be appropriate. Benny B. responded with saying, "So do we counsel

In reviewing the reviews written for this book I was appaled at some of the reviews that I read. I seems that this world is trapped in a "Hollywood mentality" in which every book should read like a movie, fast and shallow. This book is much deeper. Although it is short, and obviously cuts out some of the trying times they must have gone through at camp, the author chooses to write it as an uplifting message. Anyone who is bored by this book is missing the deeper message. Children/people with handycaps are human also, and they have to suffer much more than any of us could possibly imagine. This is a story about special children allowed to be normal children, like they were meant to.

The Acorn People is a very touching story. You learn to love the characters and feel like you were there with the handicapped children at their summer camp. I had it read to me in school and I know there were several teary eyes at the end of this amazing book. This book is one don't forget.

After recommending a book called SEEDFOLKS to a colleague, she recommended THE ACORN PEOPLE to me. Though written many years back and almost impossible to find in most libraries or bookstores, it's one of those hidden treasures that can make you laugh and cry at the same time. It tells the story of a college stuent turned summer camp counselor who gets a job working with severely physically handicapped youngsters and, almost immediately, feels like going AWOL from this job because of the overwhelming odds. However, he soon discovers that they can teach him far more about life than he ever learned in a classroom. Just as a blind person usually has a far keener sense of hearing, these physically handicapped youngsters have a way of sharing their true personalities and strengths, producing some mini-miracles (actually maxi-ones) for each other as well as themselves. Wording in the book is superb, realistic, and not the least bit maudlin. When I finished reading it and noticed something I had previously missed--that the story was actually true--it made this book even more meaningful to me. Though a short work, it's impossible to read it without feeling its strong, positive impact. It helps all of us to be grateful for what we have and to also see how we can compensate for what we do not have. THE ACORN PEOPLE depicts a summer that none of the group would ever forget in their short lives and that will stay with the reader as an inspiration for what people can do when they bother--and have fun doing it at the same time. With the exception of one word that won't be found in the dictionary, this work is one that should be read (or at least heard) by everyone over the age of ten. It would make the world a better place.