Kirjahaku

In Trouble in Mind, neuropsychologist Jenni Ogden, author of Fractured Minds, transports the reader into the world of some of her most memorable neurological patients as she explores with compassion, insight, and vivid description the human side of brain damage. These are tales of patients who, as the result of stroke, brain tumor, car crash, or neurological disease, begin thinking and behaving strangely, and with their loved ones' support embark on the long journey to recovery, acceptance of disability and sometimes, death. There is Luke, the gang member who loses his speech but finds he can still sing his favorite blues number "Trouble in Mind," and HM, who teaches the world about memory and becomes the most studied single case in medical history. You will meet Julian, who misplaces his internal map of the human body, and Melody, a singer who risks losing her song when she undergoes brain surgery to cure her epilepsy. Then there is Kim with a severe head injury, and Sophie who has just enough time to put her house in order before Alzheimer's dementia steals her insight. For these and the many other patients whose stories are told in this book, the struggle to understand their disordered minds and disobedient bodies takes extraordinary courage, determination, and patience. For health professionals and researchers working with these patients, the ethical and emotional challenges can be as demanding as the intellectual and treatment decisions they make daily. Trouble In Mind is written in an accessible narrative style that is both accurate and intimate. It will be enjoyed by readers -- whether students, researchers, or professionals in mental health and neuroscience, patients with neurological disorders and their families, or general readers -- who want to learn more about brain disorders and the doctors who care for those who suffer them.

From Jenni Ogden, author of multiple-award-winning A Drop in the Ocean, comes another evocative story of friendship, coral reefs, and marine conservation for book-club readers.It is the late 1970s and Gaia and Bron live on their isolated property on Western Australia's Coral Coast. Intensively trained for a ballet career by her mother, Gaia also loves snorkeling over the coral reef that borders their property. Then comes a day that changes her life forever: she discovers a rare pair of dramatically-colored seadragons, their courtship dance over the coral spellbinding, and that night she loses her entire family and her dancing dream. Two years later she returns to the abandoned property, determined to live off the land. For years her only friends are the wild animals of the bush and reef and Mary and Eddie, an Aboriginal couple who work for the racist farmer on the neighboring property - until one morning Jarrah, Mary's 11-year-old orphaned nephew, is entranced when he sees Gaia, now 18, dancing on the beach. As an unlikely friendship between these two lonely and scarred people deepens, they discover that when you lose everything the only way to survive is to open your heart.2024 Independent Publisher Book Award GOLD MEDALIST FOR FICTION, Australia/New Zealand-Aotearoa/Pacific Rim