The Story of My Life (Bantam Classic)

An American classic rediscovered by each generation, The Story of My Life is Helen Keller’s account of her triumph over deafness and blindness. Popularized by the stage play and movie The Miracle Worker, Keller’s story has become a symbol of hope for people all over the world. This book–published when Keller was only twenty-two–portrays the wild child who is locked in the dark and silent prison of her own body. With an extraordinary immediacy, Keller reveals her frustrations and rage, and takes the reader on the unforgettable journey of her education and breakthroughs into the world of communication. From the moment Keller recognizes the word “water” when her teacher finger-spells the letters, we share her triumph as “that living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!” An unparalleled chronicle of courage, The Story of My Life remains startlingly fresh and vital more than a century after its first publication, a timeless testament to an indomitable will. When she was 19 months old, Helen Keller (18801968) suffered a severe illness that left her blind and deaf. Not long after, she also became mute. Her tenacious struggle to overcome these handicaps-with the help of her inspired teacher, Anne Sullivan-is one of the great stories of human courage and dedication. In this classic autobiography, first published in 1903, Miss Keller recounts the first 22 years of her life, including the magical moment at the water pump when, recognizing the connection between the word "water" and the cold liquid flowing over her hand, she realized that objects had names. Subsequent experiences were equally noteworthy: her joy at eventually learning to speak, her friendships with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edward Everett Hale and other notables, her education at Radcliffe (from which she graduated cum laude), and-underlying all-her extraordinary relationship with Miss Sullivan, who showed a remarkable genius for communicating with her eager and quick-to-learn pupil.

Before she was two years old, a scarlet fever destroyed Helen Keller's sight and hearing. At seven, alone and withdrawn, she was rescued by Anne Sullivan, her teacher and friend. She learned to read (in several different languages) and speak so well that she graduated with honors in 1904 from Radcliffe, where she authored The Story of My Life.

Children's Literature

There are several excellent books on this level about Helen Keller: Helen Keller, Nigel Hunter, Bookwright, 1986; Helen Keller A Light for the Blind, Kathleen V. Kudlinski, Viking, 1989; Helen Keller, Richard Tames, Franklin Watts, 1989). This is a classic; special because it is an autobiographical account of a young woman who overcame being deaf and blind. All the fears, trials and emotions of her struggles from childhood come through in exquisite language. 1993 (orig.

Helen shares her struggles with unassuming charm and intelligence: the frustration of not being able to express herself-- like wandering though a dense fog-- and the happiness of finally apprehending light breaking through the mist. The joy she felt when she first made the connection between the word water and the cold, wet liquid that poured over her fingers, comes spilling onto the pages with girlish, infectious enthusiasm. Written when she was just 22, Helen's story would gain the attention of some of the most famous people of her day, among them Alexander Graham Bell, the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes and Mark Twain An autobiography of Helen Keller, written while she was a young woman, in which she tells of her early life, her relationship with her teacher Anne Sullivan, and her struggles to triumph over blindness and deafness Helen Keller's personal recollections and correspondence reveal her relationship with her beloved teacher, Annie Sullivan, and the problems and obstacles she encountered as she struggled to overcome her handicaps It is with a kind of fear that I begin to write the history of my life.