Skip to main content

Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

By Anonymous

J Fiction
2009
195 pages

Veteran writer Baskin takes us inside the mind of an young autistic boy and we get to see the world through his eyes. Anything But Typical is told in first person by 12 year old Jason Blake. Jason's family is made up of his brother, Jeremy, who seems to accept Jason the way he is, his father, who deals with Jason's condition well, and his mom, who believes Jason needs to be "fixed". She seems to try to force normalcy upon Jason. Jason finds he can be himself easily when he writes. He posts his stories on "Storyboard" and makes a connection with a girl who calls herself PhoenixBird. Jason enjoys their online friendship, until his parents sign him up for a writer's conference and he finds out that PhoenixBird will also be attending. He knows how people react to him when they see him and observe his quirky, atypical behaviors. Will PhoenixBird still be his friend after she meets him?

A very fast read and well written. Modern day doctors are still not sure what exactly goes on in the mind of an autistic child. Baskin presents one possible example with Jason; he is very aware of what goes on around him and realizes what people what from him, but is often unable to do what is expected. He knows most people want you to look at them when they speak to you, but Jason explains how people's faces distract him from their spoken words. He hears better when he doesn't see the person who's talking. Jason's inner thoughts about why he does what he does actually make a whole lot of sense. He's a likable character who you'll be cheering for from the beginning.

A definite Newbery contender - it's at the top end of my list.

Comments

loo said…
I really, really liked this as well. The author did an excellent job in allowing the reader to connect with Jason. I didn't want to put this book down!
November 23, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stand Tall by Joan Bauer

By DeeDee
Stand Tall By Siena Siegel by Joan Bauer Putnam, 2002, 182 pgs Realistic Fiction Tree is 12 years old and over 6 feet tall. That would be great if he were a basketball player, but he is not. Dealing with his unusual size is not Tree's only challenge. Tree's parents have recently gone through a divorce, and his grandfather has had his leg amputated as the result of an old Vietnam War injury. The strength of this book is the characterizations. All of the main characters are dimensional and sympathetic. Bauer sets the characters in real and often funny family situations. Best of all is the character of Tree. He is boy with a heart to match his stature. This is a great book for boys or girls ages 9-12, as a read aloud or for individual reading. This book could also be a good Rx book for children whose families are going through divorce, or for anyone who feels like they don't fit in.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The New Girl

By
The New Girl By Cassandra Calin New York: Graphix, 2024. Comic. 261 pages. 12-year-old Lia and her family have just moved from Romania to Montreal, and she's doing her best to keep up with the changes. But, she's homesick. She misses the rest of her family, her friends, and her favorite Romanian treats. She doesn't speak French and her English is shaky, which makes it hard to make friends, even in her international immersion class. And she's dealing with super painful menstrual cramps every month. But before long, Lia starts to hit her stride. She befriends the other bilingual girls in her class, she gets a spot as the artist for her school's magazine, and even has a new crush -- Julien. Though she may be the new girl, Lia is starting to fit in. This slice of life graphic novel is an adorable choice for middle grade readers and young teens. Lia is a likable protagonist and readers will have little difficulty relating to her adjustment to school. The text speaks to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker

By
  Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker By Heidi Heilig New York: Greenwillow Books, 2025. Fiction. 291 pages. Thanks to Cincinnati Lee's no good, dirty rotten, artifact stealing great great great grandfather, Cincinnati's family is now cursed and Cincinnati feels like it's up to her to break the curse. Which involves trying to steal the artifacts back from museums that her grandfather robbed from graves and archeological sites around the world and return them to their countries of origin. But when Cincinnati's first artifact stealing mission goes awry, she decides it might be more effective to steal an all-powerful artifact herself that she can use to break the curse - The Spear of Destiny. Unfortunately her race for the spear will pit her against art smugglers and thieves intent on finding the ancient artifact themselves. If you are looking for an Indiana Jones read-alike, this is the perfect for you! Heavy on the adventure with similar levels of mysticism to those seen in th...
Post a Comment
Read more