Kate’s 2¢: Witucki, Kristen “Outside Myself”

Kate’s 2¢: Witucki, Kristen “Outside Myself”

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.

Author Kristen Witucki was on the tele-conference with members of Behind Our Eyes/Written Word Party-Line on July 21, 2019. to discuss her books. She discussed development of characters and specifically whether these same novels would have worked if set in a later time. Kristen told us about some other writers she enjoyed and how they influenced her reluctant choice to write about blindness

The story is semi-auto-biographical, which explains how she’s gained insight into the issues at hand. During the interview, she mentioned that her husband had taken the older children out, leaving her with an infant to keep content as she continued chatting.

I enjoyed “Outside Myself”, but, the library system is different now-a-days and the relationship might be misconstrued by today’s cultural standards.

from her web-site:

Kristen been totally blind since birth. She was raised in New Jersey. She earned a BA in English from Vassar College in 2004 with a minor in German and certification to teach students in grades 7-12. She followed it with three Masters degrees: an MA in teaching gifted students from Teachers College, Columbia University, (2006); an MFA in the creative writing of fiction from Sarah Lawrence College, (2008); and an Ed.M in teaching students who are blind or visually impaired from Dominican College, (2011). While in school, she earned her living at Learning Ally, where she helped people with visual impairments, dyslexia and other disabilities to access technology related to reading audio books.

The Transcriber is Kristen’s first published book of fiction. Her nonfiction has appeared at the Huffington Post, the Momoir Project, Literary Mama and Brain, Child.

Kristen is working on a project for Learning Ally which will help college students who are blind or visually impaired. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons (now three children).

From NLAS/BARD/LOC:

Outside myself DB91111

Witucki, Kristen. Reading time: 7 hours, 43 minutes.

Read by Jennifer Hubbard.

Disability

Human Relations

Young Adult

When Tallie, a girl struggling to adjust to her blindness, calls Adult Reader Services at a library for the blind, she connects with Benjamin, an older man working in customer service. The two bond over the phone and create a special relationship. Strong language. For senior high and older readers. 2018.