Ugly

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I'm almost torn on this book as to its reality. This is a harsh, brutal tale of severe neglect and hardship endured by a child who essentially raises herself from a young age. Abandoned by her mother, Constance spends the majority of her formative years making a living just to support herself as she has no one else to do it for her. Narrated by the author, and he did a really good job of reading the book. Loved the tone and inflection. Other than physical abuse, Briscoe’s mother also verbally harassed her “telling [her] for years that [she’s] ugly”. Although physical scars fade overtime, emotional trauma is more complicated to heal as there is no “medication” that could be bought to help heal the wound. Even the physical side of the abuse always had an emotional aspect that came with it which impacted Briscoe’s overall mental health.

Plot: The content of this story revolves around Robert Hoge's life and his struggles. It starts from when he was born, to when he was in his pre-teens. If anything, I would have liked to see what his struggles look like now, but I don't know if that would have worked with the audience he was writing to. Children want to hear about lives similar to theirs, so perhaps it was for the best.

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This book is about a girl which has been mistreated and emotionally destroyed by her mother. She was always the one to blame between her siblings. Constance was called "Ugly" by her mother several times and has always felt very unwanted in the family, so she looked for Social services to take good care of her. Throughout the book, the writer describes how the child has suffered and was abused by her mother. I agree with the people who said the book was repetetive. But with every book I read during the last weeks, I had this same thought: Gosh, that could be shortened...is it due to our society in which we don't take our time anymore to focus and observe things in detail, that we want books, novels to turn into short stories? Of course, it was repetative, for she wrote down a whole decade of her life, where she made the same experiences over and over again: the abuse, the trauma, health issues, people who don't want to see the truth. The repetition was her life and the literal device deepens that impression. Robert Hoge is 4 years older than I am, but that’s where the similarities end. He’s endured hardship to an extent that I cannot fathom, and holds his head higher than I ever could. Yes he’s inspiring, yes he’s resilient, yes he’s a trooper. He’s a normal Aussie bloke that tells his story to a younger audience, he is someone that uses his adversity to carry a message. He has had corrective surgery, has 2 prosthetic legs, and is as bright and personable and public a fellow as any mother could have hoped for. Plenty of struggles growing up, pain, schoolyard taunts (regular schools), great mates, schoolboy pranks (lots), girlfriends, and a very loving, loyal family. Mary Hoge went into labour on the 21st of July 1972 and endured a long and difficult labour. On Sunday 23rd of July 1972 she gave birth to her fifth child Robert Hoge. After he was born Mary asked if her baby was alright and the doctors reply was no. Of course no parent wants to hear that straight after giving birth.

When I say I'm torn, parts of this book seem unbearable for a child to endure and triumph over, but that may be me and my inability to grasp someone's desire for survival. Ultimately Constance does survive and I can only bow humbly that she does so and bear the shame that those around her should have felt in their complete negligence of her care as a child. When Robert was born, he had a tumor the size of a tennis ball in the middle of his face and short, twisted legs. Surgeons removed the tumor and made him a new nose. He survived complicated surgeries— only to discover that other kids and adults could be cruel about his appearance. But Robert refused to let the judgments of other people define him. This true story about Robert’s struggles, triumphs, and adventures is definitely worth reading!Home for the Hoges was a bayside suburb of Brisbane. Robert's parents, Mary and Vince, knew that his life would be difficult, but they were determined to give him a typical Australian childhood. So along with the regular, gruelling and often dangerous operations that made medical history and gradually improved Robert's life, there were bad haircuts, visits to the local pool, school camps and dreams of summer sports. He has, umm.. How many houses?? And he didn't bother himself help his children in any sort of way!! ><

Young people want to talk about appearance and being different. It’s a central theme of their lives. Ever since the adult edition of Ugly came out I’ve had hundreds of conversations with kids about looking different and being disabled. But I gave this book two stars because I didn’t know the purpose. What was the point of writing this book? Unfortunately, none of us can save Briscoe from her childhood trauma. What’s more, the end wasn’t really an end: it was just a cliff-hanger to another series of problems. Squashed by a giant clay splodge spread across the face. It has pushed so far into the front of the face that the beautiful eyes you made are now way further apart than they should be. The extra time you put into getting the size and shape of the head just right is totally wasted too. It’s bumpy and broken. Imagine what that sculpture looks like now and you’ll know what I looked like when I was born.I feel guilty about writing this review because it's based on the real accounts of the author, for God's sake. I’m not sure what to make of this. I think it’s kind of unfair to write a review on somebody’s actual life, because I have no say in the events. Personally, I enjoy non-fiction books that discusses deep personal issues and traumatic experiences because it opens my eyes to the different possibilities to what life could have been like for me. In addition, the book ends with a chapter called “A Ray of Light” which reminds me that despite how dark things get in life, there will always be hope. The world Briscoe lived in is a reality that I may never experience in my lifetime which makes me realize that I should never give up trying to find the light on the other end of the tunnel because someone who had gone through worse was able to find it. Terrible how they let kids so young play football these days,’ she said to her friend. ‘Look at the damage it does.’