Booktalking "My Thirteenth Winter" by Samantha Abeel by Miranda McDermott, Harry Belafonte 115th Street LibraryJanuary 30, 2015

Dyscalculia is a math-related learning disability. Samantha Abeel was caught in the crossfire between her complete inability to perform simple mathematical calculations or read music (which is related to math) and her extreme creativity with writing and vivid imagination. Educators did not know whether to place her in remedial or gifted classes; since her abilities were mixed, she often ended up in regular classes that did not help her in sorely needed areas, such as math, and they did not stimulate her advanced abilities in creative writing.

In kindergarten, Samantha's teacher asked the class to provide words beginning with 'n.' Samantha said "pneumonia." None of the other kids said similar words, and none of them knew what the word meant. The teacher told them because the girl did not want to stick out in the class. However, Samantha coveted her reputation as a "smart kid." That began to crumble when she could not count change and perform other simple tasks that seemed so easy for the other kids. She began to suffer anxiety attacks and became painfully isolated.

Mt. Holyoke College presented a beacon of hope for Samantha, and she was quite excited about her upcoming education. She worked with the coordinator for learning disabilities to determine which professors were more understanding towards learning disabilities, and which classes she could petition for a waiver from. She spent time speaking about learning disabilities and the book of poetry that she self-published at age 15, Reach for the Moon.

My Thirteenth Winter by Samantha Abeel, 2003

I love how the author's poetry is interspersed with the prose in the book; she is gifted with words. I had never heard of the learning disability called dyscalculia before encountering this book. I am fascinated by it and how bright and creative the author is.

Abeel wrote Reach for the Moon, which was on the NYPL's "Books for the Teen Age" list, now known as "Stuff for the Teen Age." 

View all posts by Miranda McDermott

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"My Thirteenth Winter" by Samantha Abeel

Submitted by Annette (not verified) on November 1, 2016 - 6:30am

I just read this wonderful and enlightening book and was glad to find Miranda McDermott's fairly recent post called "Booktalking 'My Thirteenth Winter' by Samantha Abeel" (from January 30, 2015) on the NYPL website. However, there appear to be no copies of either of Samantha Abeel's books in the NYPL collection! How can this be? "My Thirteenth Winter" is still in print, and I highly recommend purchasing it for YA and Adult collections.