I felt that the description of Lester's reactions to his world were accurate. In that sense, there are students who would find this book interesting. Lester has a very black and white take on everything, interpreting idioms such as "hold onto your hat" literally. At the beginning of the novel, he really doesn't show any interest in the feelings of others. His emotional outbursts in class are certainly reflective of his frustrations.Other parts of the book just didn't ring true for me. First, a school cannot diagnose a child with any medical condition, let alone ASD. That appears to be what happens in this book. Coupled with the fact that it's vague as to whether Lester's mom knew he had ASD to begin with, the parts pertaining to Lester's IEP seemed strange to me. Then there are oddities that don't happen in schools in my area - teachers leaving the class alone in the room, the resource teacher having a lot of free time with zero or one student. That's the kind of thing my students question when we read a book together.
One reviewer called parts of the book funny, but I'm not sure which parts those were. The themes in this book are pretty intense, and I was just mostly concerned for Lester throughout the book. On top of Lester's frustrations at school, his home life is also tough. Lester's father, an astronaut, has died in a reentry accident. His mother is overly protective of Lester as a result, and is dealing with grief and anxiety of her own. These are tough themes in a middle grades book, and at times it seemed to be too much.
I originally thought this book might be good to give to students who are themselves on the spectrum, or who have befriended students on the spectrum. However, I felt that the book wrapped things up a little too neatly at the end. Lester shows a remarkable turnaround after his IEP, and by the end of the book is acting largely like his autism is nearly cured. The same goes for his mother's anxiety. That might be frustrating for someone who is really struggling with autism and isn't getting such a happy ending in real life.
Who is the right student for this book? This all being said, I think the book still has value in a classroom. We're seeing so many more cases of ASD, and a book told from the perspective of an autistic student will help spread awareness. It might serve better as a read aloud, since the issues in the book warrant discussion. Beyond a read aloud, I'd reserve this book for students who are more mature, who are sensitive to the feelings of others, or who specifically want to know more about autism.
All in all, I applaud Mandy Davis for stepping out and writing a novel about this subject. It is much needed.
Yes, I agree. Also if you know from the beginning that Lester has autistic behaviours it is quite frustrating to wait for a diagnosis to be made. However I do think [so far] that the Principal shows understanding from the beginning BUT it is standard teaching practice here that you would tell a class what is coming up in their schedule [on the whole.] I was surprised at the way Lester was expected to adapt to full time mainstream school.... assuming the mother told the Principal about some of his behaviours I would have expected that he was offered a little bit of part time settling in time. I will finish it eventually!
ReplyDelete