View source for Talk to the Hand by Nicole Dryburgh

{{infobox2
|title=Talk to the Hand
|author=Nicole Dryburgh
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Teens
|summary=More inspirational stuff from a very strong-minded young lady. Nicole Dryburgh is a one-woman powerhouse who refuses to submit to the various taboos of disability, and kudos to her for that.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=192
|publisher=Hodder
|website=http://www.c-h-o-c.org.uk
|date=February 2010
|isbn=0340996978
|aznuk=0340996978
|aznus=0340996978
|cover=0340996978
}}

We first met Nicole Dryburgh in her book [[The Way I See It by Nicole Dryburgh|The Way I See It]], which she wrote at eighteen, and which detailed her battles with cancer and the loss of her sight. We loved the warts-and-all picture of her life that she gave us then, and so we were really pleased to see that she's written a second book.

When TWISI ended, Nicole's cancer had left her blind and with reduced mobility. Since then, she's had more health problems: doctors failed to quickly diagnose tumours in her ears, and she's now almost completely deaf; she had to have surgery for an enormous bladder stone; her needle phobia grew to intolerable proportions. You do kinda wonder just how much one person is expected to take. But none of this daunts Nicole, and ''Talk to the Hand'' is another vivid, honest and energetic book about what happened to her, what she's done about it and what she's done for other people, what she likes (pink things, chocolate, her dogs) and what she doesn't (inattentive doctors, needles, running out of Nice n Spicy Nik Naks).

Much of the book is about illness, of course, and much of the rest is about fundraising for medical charities. But the book isn't actually focused on these things at all - it's a young girl's chatty diary, a blog in print. It's a gossip, a natter, some shared advice - the kind of thing girls do up and down the country, whether they're ill or not. It's aimed at Nicole's peer group, but it's accessible and easy to read, so girls at late primary age would enjoy it, but it's also so open and enjoyable that their mothers will love it too.

Nicole Dryburgh is a one-woman powerhouse who refuses to submit to the various taboos of disability, and kudos to her for that. I think you should read her book.

Oh - and go to her website: [http://www.c-h-o-c.org.uk www.c-h-o-c.org.uk].

My thanks to the good people at Hodder for sending the book, and to Nicole for writing it.

[[Castlecliff by Elizabeth Pulford]] is fiction, but features a young girl who has cancer, and who shows Nicole's wonderful strength of character. [[The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir by Cylin Busby and John Busby|The Year We Disappeared]] is Cylin Busby's memoir, written for children, about the time following her father's shooting. It sounds off topic, but I think it has the same taboo-busting basis as Nicole's book.

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[[Category:Children's Non-Fiction]]

[[Category:Autobiography]]