Chancer: How One Good Boy Saved Another

by Donnie Kanter Winokur

Overview

When a devastating diagnosis tears author Donnie Kanter Winokur’s family apart, a service dog may be their best hope to stay together.

Donnie Kanter Winokur and her husband, Harvey, never could have imagined the heart-wrenching struggle that becomes their new reality after they decide to adopt two infants from Russia. As Iyal and Morasha grow, it becomes clear that Iyal’s development is drastically lagging behind his sister’s. By age four, he has a devastating diagnosis: fetal alcohol syndrome. But naming their battle provides little relief as Iyal and his family try to cope with the lifelong impact of his invisible disability. As the Winokurs’ marriage is unraveling, Donnie and Harvey hang on to the last shreds of their own promise.

Desperate to alleviate her son’s constant rages and their crushing toll on the family, Donnie comes up with an innovative, untested, four-pawed solution: a golden retriever service dog named Chancer. Chancer is specially trained to give Iyal a unique love he desperately needs. But in this true-life tale infused with moments of despair, tenderness, and humor, Chancer turns out to be what the entire family has needed to stay—and grow—together.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781503942905
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	08/22/2017
Pages:	284
Sales rank:	710,621
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Donnie Kanter Winokur is a writer, speaker, and human rights advocate. A native of New Jersey, she studied theatre at Catholic University and earned a degree in psychology from Emory University in Atlanta. After honing her skills writing and producing advertising campaigns for clients throughout the Southeast, she created award-winning projects for Discovery, the Smithsonian Institute, and Broderbund/Random House.

Donnie has authored two award-winning children’s books and contributed to national and international magazines and journals, including Guideposts and Adoption Today; her journey was captured in India’s Reader’s Digest and Australia’s Marie Claire. In 2012, Donnie’s story was featured in “Wonder Dog” for the New York Times Magazine.

Donnie and her husband, Harvey, the founding rabbi of a reform synagogue, live north of Atlanta with their son, Iyal, and daughter, Morasha.

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2017
Winokur writes of adopting two infants from Russia: a boy, Iyal, and a girl, Morasha, each from a different orphanage. Their first two years are wonderful, but then Iyal begins to have explosive tantrums and wakes up every night in a rage. After being taken to different specialists, Iyal is diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)—his brain and central nervous had been irreversibly damaged in utero. At age nine, Iyal could only speak in baby talk and required a full-time aide at school, and his parents' nonstop attention at home. Ultimately, Winokur learns of 4 Paws for Ability, a nonprofit service dog agency in Ohio that places dogs with autistic children. Iyal is eventually matched with Chancer, a large golden retriever who had been neglected by previous owners. Almost immediately, Chancer learns to sense when Iyal might be having a tantrum, then "nuzzles" and calms the boy. While Chancer cannot cure Iyal, his presence mitigates the disability and provides unconditional love. VERDICT With few personal narratives about children with FAS, this unique and candid memoir will be a helpful contribution.—Eva Lautemann, Gwinnett Cty. P.L., GA

Library Journal

2017-06-05
A journalist and children's book author tells the story of the golden retriever that changed her disabled son's life.Shortly after they married in the late 1990s, Winokur (Nuzzle: Love Between a Boy and His Service Dog, 2011, etc.) and her husband, Harvey, realized they could not have children. Unwilling to wait for an American-born child, they adopted two infants from Russia, a girl and a boy they named Morasha and Iyal. For the first year, they experienced "a parenting honeymoon." Then Winokur began to notice that Iyal's development lagged behind his sister's. At first she thought he had ADD or ADHD, but Iyal's frenzied behavior, along with the visible disconnect "between his brain and sensory receptors," suggested a far more serious problem. A doctor finally diagnosed him with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. As the boy grew older, his behaviors became increasingly extreme. Never knowing when Iyal would turn into "a Mini-Me of the Incredible Hulk" and outraged at the many ways other children tried to abuse him, Winokur struggled with anxiety and depression while her marriage crumbled around her. "Betting on hope," she sought help from 4 Paws, a service that trains dogs to assist special needs children. The organization sent the family a young golden retriever named Chancer. Harvey was deeply skeptical; despite a loving personality, Chancer made mistakes, including chewing up a TV remote control and Harvey's cellphone. Yet from the moment Chancer met Iyal, the dog's gentle presence immediately helped the boy begin to find calm from the "chemical storm[s]" that caused him to hallucinate and suffer from extreme sensitivity to smells and touch. The story of how Chancer helped the Winokurs and their son heal and grow closer is poignant and heartwarming. But what makes the book especially important is the frank way the author illuminates an underdiscussed disorder that affects as many as one child in 20 in the United States. An honest, informative, and uplifting memoir.

Kirkus Reviews

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