Title: Flowers for Algernon Author Daniel Keyes

Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey.  Born with an unusually low IQ he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.  
As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis.  The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates.  Will the same happen to Charlie?

'"Dr. Strauss says I shoud rite down what I think and remembir and evrey thing that happens to me from now on."'

We follow Charlie through his transformation through a series of journal entries.  The first passages are written using very simple language and is fraught with spelling and grammatical errors signifying Charlie's limited mind; a window into his handicap.  This is paramount to the story as it's the very reason he was chosen for the experiment in the first place.  After many tests they tell him about a surgery meant to increase his intelligence.  Charlie likes that idea because '[he] wantid to be smart.'  He's disappointed after the surgery because he assumed he would immediately wake up and be smarter.  But he has to work for it.  His only friend and teacher at the home for mentally challenged adults, Miss Kinnian, Alice, tells him 'it woud stick with [him] and not be like befor when it dint stick so good.'

The testing continues and Charlie get increasingly frustrated as Algernon, the mouse whose own achievements spurred Charlie's surgery, keeps winning all the tests and games they play.

'I hate that mouse.  He always beets me.'

However, this changes less than a month later.  Charlie's progress reports are seen to improve in errors and in thought complexity.  Winning against Algernon proves to Charlie that he is, indeed, getting smarter.  That the surgery was a success.  He is excited and rushes to tell Alice, whom he's been spending more and more time with.  She helps him learn and encourages him to work hard.

Not two months after the operation he begins to notice that Alice is a woman, a female.  He's never looked at her that way, never looked at any woman that way.  He wants to go on a date with her but she is reluctant.  She never suspected her tutelage would turn into romance.  She agrees to go on a date, but Charlie is unfamiliar with his new feelings for her as a woman.  He tries to become more intimate with her and she rejects him; his first.  It hurts him and confuses him, so he insists.  His need for her, his need for a normal human relationship, increases with his IQ.

'[She's] the first woman [he's] every been really aware of in [that] way...'

'"See other women," she advises.  "Give yourself more time."'

As the weeks wear on he finds himself out growing the people he'd once thought of as friends which includes his budding romance with Alice.  In fact, his intelligence improves so radically he even begins to surpass his doctors.

'Strauss again brought up [Charlie's] need to speak and write simply and directly so that people will understand [him]... that language is sometimes a barrier instead of a pathway.  Ironic to find [himself] on the other side of the intellectual fence.'

The operation continues to improve his IQ which causes him to think about the world differently.  His mind clears and he can look back to sort through hazy, childhood memories.  The doctor's are so impressed with his progress they announce they're taking him and Algernon to an international convention.  Charlie is excited to meet and mingle with the smartest minds in the world.  His frustration for his own doctor's limits is eager to be assuaged among these supposed giants of men.  Everyday people and mundane conversation no longer hold any interest for him.  He becomes impatient when others can't follow his ideas.  He feels resentment towards the doctors, once thinking them so smart, now knowing more than them, more than anyone could possibly learn in a lifetime.  In less than half a year Charlie has gone on to do his own research regarding the experiment in the many different languages he's been able to learn and understand fluently.  He confronts his doctors' with information regarding his mental retardation and newly acquired intelligence which only reveals a deep lacking in their understanding.

'To hear [them] admit that [they] were ignorant of whole areas in their own fields was terrifying,' Charlie writes.

He also has to face the fact that he is their experiment, their most prized research and he doesn't like them staking their reputations and glory on him.

During the lecture about the his success as said experiment he discovers the doctors video recorded his early testing. 

'[he] had never known that [his] early performances and tests... were filmed.  There [he] was... confused and open-mouthed as [he] tried to run the maze... Each time [he failed, his] expression changed to an absurd wide-eyed stare, then that foolish smile again.'

Each time it happened the audience roared with laughter.  Race after race it was repeated and each time they found it funnier and funnier than before.  Charlie sits there, on the stage, watching these brilliant minds from around the globe laughing so freely at his expense and gets the urge to suddenly release the precious Algernon from his cage.  Without realizing it, he flips the lock and lets his comrade loose.  Pandemonium erupts in the lecture hall as everyone scrambles to catch the intelligent rodent.  Charlie uses it to make his own escape, Algernon tucked safely in his pocket. 

Away from the laboratory Charlie uses the chance to try to contact his family.  He can recognize them but has to remind himself that they wouldn't possibly recognize him after 15 years. 

He begins to see the paradox within him; the smarts, but really no life experience, no practice making and keeping relationships.  He reaches out anyway.  Bittersweet memories of home are closely examined without the haze of his retardation influencing every recalled image.  He cannot stay away.  He fears he may never get another chance.  Navigating these unfamiliar areas of human interaction is difficult as Charlie tries to reclaim something he hadn't known he'd lacked; love.

Keenly aware of this imbalance inside him he can't help but continue to challenge the doctors.  He knows something they don't but they don't like to listen, and he can't express himself properly without anger and frustration.  Charlie is both too smart for his own good, but utterly lacking at the same time.  He admits they've taken care of him.  He has his own place, a small salary, but he is all too aware of what else they've neglected.

'"Everything but treat me as a human being.  You've boasted... that I was nothing before the experiment... Because if I was nothing, then you were responsible for creating me, and that makes you my lord and master.  You resent the fact that I don't show my gratitude every hour of the day... I am grateful.  But what you did for me - wonderful as it is - doesn't give you the right to treat me like an experimental animal.  I'm an individual now, and so was Charlie before he ever walked into that lab... suddenly we discover that I was always a person... and that challenges your belief that someone with an IQ of less than 100 doesn't deserve consideration."'

After that it isn't long before Charlie is done with the experiment.  He sees what's happening to Algernon and doesn't want to end up the same way. 

'"No more tests.  I don't want to take any more tests... Not just for today.  I'm not coming back here any more... I've done enough.  I want to be left alone now."'

They try to persuade him to stay, to see it through.  After all, their PhD's are riding on it.  But through it all Charlie's learned one very important thing; the preciousness of time and the comfort of others.

This book takes the reader through the hard-to-understand levels of academia with ease and peels back these intellectual layers to expose the raw, human truth behind scientific breakthroughs, proving we all have the need for human connection.

Click here to purchase Flowers for Algernon.

Title: The Unfinished Child Author: Theresa Shea

When Marie MacPherson, a mother of two, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at thirty-nine, she feels guilty. Her best friend, Elizabeth, has never been able to conceive, despite years of fertility treatments. Marie's dilemma is further complicated when she becomes convinced something is wrong with her baby. She then enters the world of genetic testing and is entirely unprepared for the decision that lies ahead.

Friends for over 30 years, Elizabeth and Marie have faced their share of joys and sorrows and have always managed to remain close, in spite of their differences.  They tell each other everything, sharing their lives with each other, relying on their closeness to help them through tough times.  That is, until Marie gets unexpectedly pregnant with her third child at 39 years old.  her other two daughters, aged 10 & 12 adore their 'aunt' Elizabeth, almost more than they adore their own mother.  In spite of the two women's desire to raise their children together, Elizabeth has never been able to conceive a child even after trying for years, naturally at first, then through several rounds of invitro.  Marie knows her friend longs for a baby of her own and is afraid to reveal her surprise pregnancy.  She tries to tell herself that she's afraid the baby will have something wrong with it and doesn't want to reveal the secret too early.  Really she's worried how Elizabeth will react.  She knows the pain it will inevitably cause.  However, not being able to talk about it with her best friend weighs on her heart.  She tries more than once to start the conversation that would lead to her confession, but every time decides it not the right time.  She ends up waiting too long and one afternoon Elizabeth guesses the truth.  Marie, relieved she didn't have to say the words, nevertheless apologizes because she feels guilty to be having yet another baby while her friend has never had one.

"I think I'm a little old for an unplanned pregnancy, don't you?" she says after her initial apology.

Marie knows the news has hurt her friend, even though Elizabeth tries to hide it.  She admits to herself that their friendship has changed with the birth of her other two children.  She hopes it can withstand the third one.

Trying to be happy for her best friend Elizabeth can't help the tears from falling as she leaves the happy family.  She's bitter, angry, and overcome by all her years of trying, of hormones and needles and doctors and implanted embryo's that continually fail to make her body their home.  She knows it's not right to blame her husband, but feels a deep need to change, escape.

"All [she] ever wanted was to be a mother, and... when [they] finally decided to stop the treatments [she] had to let go of that dream... [She's] not living the life [she] thought [she'd]be at this stage in [her]life..."  Elizabeth makes a plan to implement the changes she thinks are necessary.  She takes time away from her husband, from Marie, from Marie's daughters and growing fetus.

Marie, after a dream, becomes convinced that something is wrong with her baby.  She knows that her advanced age means certain risks, including the baby's risk of having Down Syndrome.  She goes to the doctor where she is informed they can't test for it for another couple months.  She discusses the options with her husband as they decide what to do if the baby tests positive.

"We can't... make any decisions until we know... if we end the pregnancy now would we be deciding not to have another child because we really didn't want one, or because we were afraid it wasn't well?"

"I don't see what difference that would make," her husband, Barry, replies.

Every day closer to that test brings more and more tension to the couple.  Marie feels it's all up to her to decide the fate of their child.  She doesn't dare confide in Elizabeth, even though she desperately needs to.  She knows that no matter what pain she is going through Elizabeth has had her share of it with every failed attempt.  Finally Elizabeth calls her and invites Marie and the girls over for lunch.  Marie feels irrationally jealous, convinced that her girls like their beautiful, care-free, unharried aunt better.  Barry suggests the girls stay home, knowing that his wife misses her friend dearly.  Marie agrees and goes for lunch at her best friend's house alone.

Two weeks before the test Marie's daughters notice their mothers pregnancy.  Marie cringes at the questions they spew at her.  She was hoping to have made a decision about the baby before they found out.  She knows they'd love a new baby in the house, and she knows they'll be sad if the child is unwell.  She doesn't want to disappoint them, and cannot hide her growing frame from them any longer.  She confirms the pregnancy and hopes they won't become too heart broken if the baby doesn't come home.

The day of her test arrives followed shortly by the test results.  The announcement is devastating.

"Are you sure there hasn't been some mistake," Barry asks.  "How accurate is this test anyway?"

"About 98%," the doctor replies.

Barry asks about the procedure, if Marie has to stay overnight.  Marie is told she that if they chose to terminate the pregnancy she'll be induced and will have to go through labour to deliver the unfortunate child.  'There would be no reward for the pain.  Nothing to look forward to after her body emptied itself of its burden.'

She calls Elizabeth and they agree to meet for coffee.  Marie finds herself confessing everything.  Elizabeth suggests she sleep on it, take her time considering her options.  Marie reveals that she doesn't have the time she needs.  She's too far along.  It'll soon be too late to terminate.

Elizbeth feels there is an easy solution to the problem.

'Words rose unbidden to Elizabeth's mouth.  Her lips parted, "I'll take the child...I know it sounds crazy... but if you don't want the baby and you don't want to abort it either, give her to me.  Let me raise her for you."

Marie is stunned and flee's the coffee shop, flees the suggestion, flees her friend.

'This decision was likely going to be the biggest turning point in her life.  She would need to live with herself afterwards, no matter what action she decided to take.'

Both husbands are shocked at what Elizabeth has proposed.  They both agree it's an outrageous request.  Both of them insist it can't or won't happen that way.

Marie asks Barry, "... Are we going for what's easy, or what's right?"

Everything comes down to Marie.  Her options are laid out before her, the question becomes which path is best.  She considers the choices, wonders how she'll feel if she kills the child, wonders how she'll feel if she gives it away.  There is only one clear answer, she knows the child isn't coming home with her.  Will her decision affect her marriage?  Her friendship with Elizabeth?  Marie feels utterly alone as she finally makes her choice.

The Unfinished Child is an eye-opening account of what it means to be a child with Down syndrome.  It's a story of tough decisions, of life lessons and relationships.  It's a tale that shows how each person can be admired and envied for different things, and that the life we think we want doesn't always turn out how we expect it to.  The novel has a depth that goes beyond the two families, that shines a light on human connections and the power of family.  It's a story of friendship surviving the worst.  The Unfinished Child will move into your heart and have you questioning the very things you thought you knew and often take for granted.

Click here to purchase The Unfinished Child.