The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon delivers on all levels. Seeing the world through the eyes of Homan and Lynnie was a profound experience. Seeing how we treated people with differences in the not too distant past was a horrifying reminder of how far we've come, yet it was also an education in how far we still have to go in respecting and embracing differences.”--Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover (Denver, CO)
 

“The Story of Beautiful Girl is gorgeous. Rachel Simon did a fabulous job developing each of the characters. I feel that I know them all personally. I am haunted and yet fascinated by the scenes at the institution and of course I fell in love with Lynnie, the beautiful child whose sister never forgot her--even when their parents turned away. Martha, who gave up everything to protect and raise Lynnie’s baby is a true hero. Homan, the deaf and very bright man who never gave up on finding Lynnie, moved right into my heart. This is a book that will be a pleasure to sell. I think book clubs will adopt it. There’s so much to talk about here. Through fiction, Rachel Simon has shown us the truth about what was done to too many people for far too long. Thank you for sending me this treasure.”--Elaine Petrocelli, Book Passage (Corte Madera, CA)
 
 
 “I’m loving Rachel Simon’s book--all I want to do is read about Buddy, Lynnie, and Martha. I haven’t loved a story with multiple perspectives this much since The Girls.”--Mary Yockey, Anderson’s Bookshops (Naperville, IL)
 
 
 “Let me tell you about this book. I ran home from the bookstore every night Christmas week to get back into the world Rachel Simon created in The Story of Beautiful Girl. Lynnie and Homan escaping from the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded with Lynnie's infant seeking shelter from the storm is a powerful beginning. From the first page the reader is wrapped up on the lives of Lynnie, who has difficulty speaking; Homan, who is deaf; Martha, the widow who takes them in; and the infant Julia. It is a story of beautiful love across decades and along the way we come to face the inhumane way we have treated people who are different. Loved this novel.”--Mary Gay Shipley, That Bookstore in Blytheville (Blytheville, AR)
 
 
“I enjoyed the book...having worked as an aide in an Easter Seals classroom many years ago, I had somewhat of an idea about how hard it is to diagnose some things, and how easy it is for people to miss signs of hidden abilities. Maybe there will be another time. Thanks for the book, I appreciated the good read.”--Anne McMahon, Boswell Books (Milwaukee, WI)
 
 
“Rachel Simon's intelligent and insightful glimpse into the world of the differently-abled and the gifts that can be found in their worlds is deftly brought to life in her novel, The Story of Beautiful Girl.”--Tracy Taylor, Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle, WA)
 
 
“The Story of Beautiful Girl is a brilliant, yet heart-wrenching novel that will affect every reader to the core. It is a story of the imperfect and unwanted misfits of society, sent away to be forgotten. Unacknowledged, robbed of their dignity, freedoms, and even of their human existence, they are subjected to the exploitation and cruelty housed within their small contained world, yet still harbor hopes and dreams for their lives.”--Thea Kotroba, Chester County Book & Music Company (West Chester, PA)
 
 
“The Story of a Beautiful Girl is a heart-wrenching portrayal of what families used to do when faced with a disabled child, whether mental or physical, put them away and pretend they do not exist. Here in her novel full of pathos, Simon shows us what love, forgiveness and redemption can do for our souls.”--Annie Philbrick, Bank Square Books (Mystic, CT)
 
 
“The Story of Beautiful Girl had my full attention from the first chapter. The characters immediately gained my sympathy, and I read the novel quickly, hoping for the unlikely reunification of Lynnie, Homan, and Julia throughout. Rachel Simon writes with great sensitivity about what it might be like in our not-so-distant past to have a disability, to be misunderstood, to be surrendered by your family to an institution, to be forgotten, and yet to persevere and reach for real life. If Rachel Simon meant to give voice to the unseen silent lives of individuals placed historically in mental asylums, she has here been successful.”--Nancy Scheemaker, Northshire Bookstore (Manchester Center, VT)