My project of reading through all the Newbery Award winning books written has been put on hold since leaving the States. I went in reverse from 2010 and got to around 1942. I have been swapping what few English books I have with others. My most recent book was mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. I was going to save it for reading this weekend, but instead I started it late Thursday evening and finished it even later Thursday evening. I couldn't help myself.
It's an adolescent literature book (my favorite genre) and the author wrote it after the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. She was exploring how families deal with tragedy, and particularly families with disabilities. Her goal, and dedication, was so that we all might understand each other a little better.
A lofty goal, and my kind of girl.
The main character is a girl with Asperger's Syndrome - a type of autism marked by the inability to recognize emotions or non verbal cues, while still having high-level of mental development. In the book the 10-year-old girl is very smart. She finds comfort in things that don't change, and she is studying emotions to try to understand them - but often can't get beyond the literal meaning of things. She titles the skills she doesn't know, like when she doesn't Get It, or when she is forced to Look At The Person. Her school counselor is trying to teach her to recognize emotions and takes her on the playground. It's hard for the girl to differentiate and separate all the shapes and sounds.
It is a heartbreaking journey as her family is trying to deal with the death of her brother. Her comfort is her dictionary where she decides what they all need is closure.
The author comments in the end that if we all tried a little harder to get inside someones head we could avoid msunderstandings and problems that can lead to mounting frustration, and even violence.
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