Colin Fischer

Colin Fischer
by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz

Colin Fischer cannot stand to be touched. He does not like the color blue. He needs index cards to recognize facial expressions.

But when a gun is found in the school cafeteria, interrupting a female classmate's birthday celebration, Colin is the only for the investigation. It's up to him to prove that Wayne Connelly, the school bully and Colin's frequent tormenter, didn't bring the gun to school. After all, Wayne didn't have frosting on his hands, and there was white chocolate frosting found on the grip of the smoking gun... (description from Amazon.com)

I thought this was an interesting mystery. It's from the perspective of Colin, a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. His highly analytic mind, coupled with a separation from emotions, makes him a brilliant investigator. Like his idol, Sherlock Holmes, Colin knows that he can discover who actually brought the gun to school. Along the way, he makes a highly unlikely friend and learns to acclimate to school and being social with his peers, maybe even finding a girlfriend...

A quick read with a good mystery from a unique perspective.

Full disclosure: Borrowed from my Library

Mindblind

Mindblind
by Jennifer Roy

Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Clark lives in two worlds—the outside world of his family and friends and his own, special, inside Aspie world, where he’s not forced to interact with people or worry about wearing his clothes right-side out. The world where he can solve mathematical problems that elude even the brightest graduate students. The world where he feels he can find his own inner truth. People say he’s a genius, but Nathaniel thinks differently. According to a book he once read, a true genius uses his talent to make a contribution to the world. Nathaniel takes the definition literally, and begins his quest for genius status. (description from Amazon.com)

I really enjoyed this book.  I thought that it was a really accessible glimpse into the mind of someone with Asperger's Syndrome. Nathaniel's mind worked very differently from say, mine, but the author took pains to write so that it was not so foreign that it would be off-putting as a reader to try to understand.

Nathaniel was interesting and driven. I love that he truly strived to become a positive addition to society.  He longed for nothing more than to become the true definition of a "genius" - someone who produced something incredible. *Spoiler* I love that his passion drives him not only to become enrolled at MIT, but also to balance that with a "fun" part-time job at a grocery store. 

I loved that Nathaniel also had "normal" friends and that he was so high functioning.  Being in a band and going bowling or playing video games with friends seem to be things that a lot of autistic/Aspie kids can't do and it was heartwarming to see a character that was inspired to participate so much by his family.  I loved the relationship he and his mother had...and while I didn't like his relationship with his father, I understood how it could have developed and thought it was very realistic.  It was nice to see his loving stepmother, too. 

All in all, I thought this book was very well done and I recommend it anytime you are looking for something a little bit different!

Mockingbird

Mockingbird
by Kathryn Erskine

In Caitlin's world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That's the stuff Caitlin's older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon's dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger's, she doesn't know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white--the world is full of colors--messy and beautiful. (description from Amazon.com)

What an amazing little gem of a book. I suppose I should have expected that...it did win the National Book Award, after all! Erskine deftly manages to tackle such weighty issues with grace...it really is incredible. I recommend that everyone should read this book!

There were so many things that I loved about this book. The writing style was simple, yet you were able to draw such stunning depth out of simple actions and phrases. The characters were beautifully drawn. Caitlin...I loved Caitlin. I loved watching her grow and try to help others through their grief, even as she was unable to understand how they were processing things differently. There were many messages in this book, yet you never felt as if they were right out in front of you. The layers were just amazing.

I can't even fully articulate the experience I had reading this book. It was just beautiful.