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It would have been much better if there was more 'show' and much less 'tell'. A better book would try to recreate autism not explain it. Or is it a children's book where everything important has to be spelled out descriptively? It just doesn't ring authentic: it's got adult/ autism expert written all over it. I would say that about 90% of the protagonist's behaviours are recognisable in my daughter - Some parts made me laugh, others made me cry. Some parts made me go 'Ohhhhh' - lightbulb moments of realisation.
Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > The book's descriptions of her feelings, and her explanations for things that don't make sense to other people, are near-perfect. I can relate so much to feeling that constant sense of rage and explosion, and being so frustrated with people who thought that I was choosing my bad behavior, wanted to be miserable all the time, and enjoyed making life a living hell for me and everyone else in my family. Tally clearly explains to the reader the state that she gets in, showing that she is not acting out for selfish reasons, but is suffering tremendously and cannot contain herself. Something is different about sixth grade, and Tally now feels like she has to act "normal." But as Tally hides her true self, she starts to wonder what "normal" means after all and whether fitting in is really what matters most.Tally has autism but seldom tells anyone and usually hides away. When she starts her new school, everything is very big and overwhelming and she has to find ways to hide her autism, but what if she doesn't have to?
Tally has autism which includes a very difficult condition known as demand avoidance. What that means is if someone tells her to do something straight out, she absolutely can not do it. This condition makes her behavior hard to understand, at times. Nell, her older sister, doesn’t want to understand and just wants Tally to be normal and do what she’s supposed to do. Even Tally’s Dad, at times, forgets how he’s supposed to phrase things and often his words lead to confrontation.I had never, ever read descriptions like this before that I didn't write myself. It meant so much to me to read about this from another person's perspective, and to see Tally's stress about trying to behave and keep self-control, but getting to points where she literally cannot restrain the explosive behavior that takes over. It was so accurate, and even though Tally's triggers were different than mine, I cannot even imagine what an overwhelming comfort it would have been if I could have read something like this when I was twelve. Imagine, every day having a ball of anxiety and fear knotted inside you. Now try learning algebra with all that going on." Tally's autism means there are things that bother her even though she wishes they didn't. It means that some people misunderstand, her and feel frustrated by her.
One thing Tally had that I did not have was the knowledge that she is autistic, she knew - I wish I had known and I wish I had books like this when I was that age.This book is a combination of present-tense, third-person prose and short diary entries from the perspective of Tally, the autistic main character. The diary entries mainly focus on charting her anxiety levels and explaining terms and concepts related to autism, often breaking them down into pros and cons. However, we are now a little further down the road and I suppose I am more accepting and more than ready to understand my daughter in any way I can. However, she manages to have remarkable insight into her own emotional state, coming up with all the excuses why SHE can't behave a certain way, yet is utterly unforgiving of others, expecting perfection from them. Her family and even her peers are all supposed to put Tally's needs above their own. She expects her 11 year old friends to have expert knowledge and the skills and ability of a psychologist. She lashes out at others, telling them what they "should" be able to do, yet going mad if anyone tries to suggest what she might be able to do. "I'm not having a tantrum you horrible man... I'm not being naughty or like a baby and you should know that by now." Her needs DO NOT TRUMP ANYONE ELSE'S
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