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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
The Original Ginny Moon is an emotionally engaging story of a fourteen-year-old girl with autism who is on her third “Forever Home” in five years. Her new forever parents thought they could not have children, adopted Ginny though they knew it would be a struggle because of her needs, and then became pregnant. Now, her Forever Mom avoids her, does not trust her with the child, and treats her as an alien, dangerous presence in the family. This is not helped by the fact she hit her plastic electronic doll eighty-three times.
Her relationship is further complicated because she is trying to get her abusive, neglectful drug addict biological mother to kidnap her. It seems her adoptive mother’s pregnancy has elevated her anxiety about her baby doll left behind with her mother. She has to, at all costs, get back with her biological mother and take care of her baby doll.
Ginny is a very logical girl bound by her own rules that she follows carefully. She will answer questions if asked one at a time. She will never lie. But that does not mean she will not deceive…she will just be silent or tell the truth obliquely, perhaps answering an unasked question. She has her blind spots and her obsessions, but she is smart in her own way, and very resourceful. By hook or by crook, Ginny Moon is going to be sure her baby doll is safe.
I liked Ginny and The Original Ginny Moon. I have a few problems, though. I was unhappy when it was mentioned that the Moons thought they could never have children and now, after adoption, were pregnant. It’s a myth that somehow after adoption, people are more likely to get pregnant. The author does not say that is what happened, but it’s a common belief because when people get pregnant after adopting, we hear about it. We don’t hear about the pregnancies that did not happen…so the myth persists. It also makes Maura, the adoptive mother, one of those small people whose love for their adopted child is supplanted, almost completely erased, by the birth of a biological child. It is heartbreaking for Ginny and again, another sadly common adoption trope.
Then I just naturally have qualms about stories featuring people with autism. Autism is like Tolstoy’s families–every person who is autistic is autistic in their own way. Yet, stories that feature people or children with autism seem to run to type: lacking attachment, mathematical, logical, logic-oriented, perseverating. I know these are common characteristics of people with autism, but because they seem to be the choices of writers most of the time, I think people get a limited sense of the difficulties of autistic children. This is not a particular criticism of this book. After all, Ginny is just one person and she is not going to have all the possible behaviors associated with autism, they are some of them contradictory. It’s a criticism of the genre as a while not providing a diverse enough portrayal of autism. After all, for all of Ginny’s difficulties, she is communicative and more or less compliant. She wants to be good, to do good.
And really, I am beyond irritated with the adults in this book. Most of Ginny’s intransigence and obsession are the result of adults not believing her. Then when they finally realize she is not being ridiculous and has a valid, critical cause for concern, when they realize that she has not made a logical connection, or more accurately, a progression in her understanding of reality, they decide to talk about it later. They think she can’t grasp the concept, but they only try to make her figure it out with hint, they don’t just tell her. And then there is Maura, the no longer Forever Mom, whose animosity toward Ginny is as off balance and disturbed as any behavior of Ginny’s.
I was going to rate this book as three stars, but realized that if the author was able to get me so very angry with Maura for her treatment of Ginny, it’s a better book than I realized. I really came to like Ginny and wanted so much more for her than she got.
The Original Ginny Moon will be released on May 2nd. I received a copy through a raffle from Shelf Awareness.
★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/the-original-ginny-moon-by-benjamin-ludwig/
Her relationship is further complicated because she is trying to get her abusive, neglectful drug addict biological mother to kidnap her. It seems her adoptive mother’s pregnancy has elevated her anxiety about her baby doll left behind with her mother. She has to, at all costs, get back with her biological mother and take care of her baby doll.
Ginny is a very logical girl bound by her own rules that she follows carefully. She will answer questions if asked one at a time. She will never lie. But that does not mean she will not deceive…she will just be silent or tell the truth obliquely, perhaps answering an unasked question. She has her blind spots and her obsessions, but she is smart in her own way, and very resourceful. By hook or by crook, Ginny Moon is going to be sure her baby doll is safe.
I liked Ginny and The Original Ginny Moon. I have a few problems, though. I was unhappy when it was mentioned that the Moons thought they could never have children and now, after adoption, were pregnant. It’s a myth that somehow after adoption, people are more likely to get pregnant. The author does not say that is what happened, but it’s a common belief because when people get pregnant after adopting, we hear about it. We don’t hear about the pregnancies that did not happen…so the myth persists. It also makes Maura, the adoptive mother, one of those small people whose love for their adopted child is supplanted, almost completely erased, by the birth of a biological child. It is heartbreaking for Ginny and again, another sadly common adoption trope.
Then I just naturally have qualms about stories featuring people with autism. Autism is like Tolstoy’s families–every person who is autistic is autistic in their own way. Yet, stories that feature people or children with autism seem to run to type: lacking attachment, mathematical, logical, logic-oriented, perseverating. I know these are common characteristics of people with autism, but because they seem to be the choices of writers most of the time, I think people get a limited sense of the difficulties of autistic children. This is not a particular criticism of this book. After all, Ginny is just one person and she is not going to have all the possible behaviors associated with autism, they are some of them contradictory. It’s a criticism of the genre as a while not providing a diverse enough portrayal of autism. After all, for all of Ginny’s difficulties, she is communicative and more or less compliant. She wants to be good, to do good.
And really, I am beyond irritated with the adults in this book. Most of Ginny’s intransigence and obsession are the result of adults not believing her. Then when they finally realize she is not being ridiculous and has a valid, critical cause for concern, when they realize that she has not made a logical connection, or more accurately, a progression in her understanding of reality, they decide to talk about it later. They think she can’t grasp the concept, but they only try to make her figure it out with hint, they don’t just tell her. And then there is Maura, the no longer Forever Mom, whose animosity toward Ginny is as off balance and disturbed as any behavior of Ginny’s.
I was going to rate this book as three stars, but realized that if the author was able to get me so very angry with Maura for her treatment of Ginny, it’s a better book than I realized. I really came to like Ginny and wanted so much more for her than she got.
The Original Ginny Moon will be released on May 2nd. I received a copy through a raffle from Shelf Awareness.
★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/the-original-ginny-moon-by-benjamin-ludwig/
I got to read the advanced reader's copy of this book and I LOVED it!! From the very first page to the last chapter this book had me hooked. I will do a full review on my blog but this book is mind-blowing, breath-taking, soul-shatteringly good! I still can't shake the book from my mind, even when reading other amazing things I am sitting there wishing I was still reading 'The Original Ginny Moon.' So incredibly done, so moving and perfectly put together this debut novel from Benjamin Ludwig is worth waiting for. Put it on you to read list now and buy it as soon as it is released in May!
I have tremendous respect for families with an autistic child after listening to just two of the CDs. I was exhausted by how Ginny relates her story. The repetition of her explanations for why she does things and how she does things ground me down. I could imagine how parents feel in that situation. Her inability to express what her needs are (despite telling everyone over and over how she needs to get back to get her baby doll) was frustrating.
I admire parents with an autistic child for their patience, resilience, fortitude and love.
It reminded me a bit of Still Alice in the way that Ginny relates her thoughts, although reading SA was like reading a horror novel that I couldn't put down.
***Looked for a review with spoilers to confirm how I suspected the book would end. Bingo! I was right on the money. For that alone, I'm happy that I didn't finish the book.
I admire parents with an autistic child for their patience, resilience, fortitude and love.
It reminded me a bit of Still Alice in the way that Ginny relates her thoughts, although reading SA was like reading a horror novel that I couldn't put down.
***Looked for a review with spoilers to confirm how I suspected the book would end. Bingo! I was right on the money. For that alone, I'm happy that I didn't finish the book.
I had my book club meeting yesterday, and we all loved this book! Written in first person, it puts you right into Ginny’s head. Though frustrating at times as the reader (you could see exactly why Ginny was acting a certain way or saying certain things but none of the other characters knew why and Ginny couldn’t explain it to them), it really showed how Ginny thought and why exactly she has to have nine grapes for breakfast everyday and go to bed at exactly nine at night. Ginny was an easy character to love (and funny at times). I had no idea how this book was going to end, but I think the ending was really well done.
It was a nice surprise to find out in the About the Author that the author actually did foster a teenage girl with autism and then adopt her, so I imagine the voice he gives Ginny is pretty authentic. Though also funny that the adoptive dad in the story is one of the best/nicest characters…
It was a nice surprise to find out in the About the Author that the author actually did foster a teenage girl with autism and then adopt her, so I imagine the voice he gives Ginny is pretty authentic. Though also funny that the adoptive dad in the story is one of the best/nicest characters…
This book grabbed me from the start like no other I've read in years. It's the story of an eventful period in the life of an autistic 13-year-old girl, as told from her point of view. Despite that fairly mundane-sounding scenario, it reads like a suspense thriller, with twists and turns you don't necessarily see coming. Any more would spoil the fun; just read it!
I couldn't put this book down. I honestly didn't expect to like this much but I couldn't put it down. It was a wondering combination of hard, real life situations and decisions mixed with a mystery. The author did a great job of painting numerous characters as conflicted. Highly recommend as a book club read.
Being on the spectrum, I didn't know what I was going to get going into Ginny Moon. I'm always cautious when it comes to portrayals of autistic people by neurotypicals. But honestly? Ginny's voice is so strong, so earnest, and so relatable that even the frustrating aspects of her portrayal (such as how her theory of mind seems to be all over the place . . . she can intuit motivations when it's convenient but fails to recognize some very basic things. But then again, that's autism) can be forgiven. I found her story emotionally gripping; I was so invested in Ginny having a happy ending and finding understanding that I couldn't put the book down. Her roller coaster of a journey is well worth the heartbreak.
But yet, as much as this is a story of a girl with autism gaining agency, this is also the story of a girl in the foster care system who has been completely and utterly failed by the adults in her life, and I found myself feeling furious at the physical, emotional, and psychological abuse (albeit sometimes unknowingly, as Ginny does not always pick up on the cruelty) that the adults in Ginny's life are able to inflict on her. Although it's understandable that raising a special needs child would be stressful on anyone, especially a woman with a baby, the way Ginny's so-called "Forever Mom" treats her is so cold and passive-aggressively dehumanizing that it is no wonder why Ginny goes to gargantuan measures to reunite with her abusive birth mom (who, while being a terrible person who has no business being a parent, at least is enticing to Ginny on a surface level due to her sheer passion). It really frustrates me that it seems Maura was being portrayed in a somewhat sympathetic light . . . she reminds me of all those anti-vax "find a cure" autism moms out there who think they're saviors for parenting a kid with autism but treat them like monsters when no one is looking. Brian, even though he is frustrated with Ginny at times, is more realistically frustrated without being abusive and seems to at least care about her and want to understand her better.I was actually hoping Ginny would end up with her birth father, Rick, who, while a bit rough around the edges, seemed to genuinely want to get to know Ginny better and dislikes how she is being treated by her foster parents. It left a sour taste in my mouth when she ends up with Brian and Maura at the end after all the horrible things Maura said to her and the fact they were going to abandon her after promising her a forever home. Ginny seemed to get over it fine and Maura seemed to at least be trying to not be a terrible person in the end, but I feel like psychologically, it's really hard to get over abandonment, gaslighting, and feeling like your parent's love is conditional. And Ginny already has enough psychological baggage from her previous homes.
But yet, as much as this is a story of a girl with autism gaining agency, this is also the story of a girl in the foster care system who has been completely and utterly failed by the adults in her life, and I found myself feeling furious at the physical, emotional, and psychological abuse (albeit sometimes unknowingly, as Ginny does not always pick up on the cruelty) that the adults in Ginny's life are able to inflict on her. Although it's understandable that raising a special needs child would be stressful on anyone, especially a woman with a baby, the way Ginny's so-called "Forever Mom" treats her is so cold and passive-aggressively dehumanizing that it is no wonder why Ginny goes to gargantuan measures to reunite with her abusive birth mom (who, while being a terrible person who has no business being a parent, at least is enticing to Ginny on a surface level due to her sheer passion). It really frustrates me that it seems Maura was being portrayed in a somewhat sympathetic light . . . she reminds me of all those anti-vax "find a cure" autism moms out there who think they're saviors for parenting a kid with autism but treat them like monsters when no one is looking. Brian, even though he is frustrated with Ginny at times, is more realistically frustrated without being abusive and seems to at least care about her and want to understand her better.
What an absolutely wonderful book! From the very first page, this novel had my heart. I adored Ginny. The author did such an amazing job portraying her and making her come to life. While I'm no expert in working with people with autism, from my experience interacting with them, I can say that the author's depiction was pretty spot on! And on top of being so accurate, the author also created a very unique and interesting voice for Ginny. Her story is heartbreaking and I was tense throughout the entire book, as I saw Ginny struggle to find her place. This novel isn't just about Ginny. This novel is about the concept of family and the different ways it can present itself: as an abusive mother, as an absent father who believes in forgiveness, as a foster family that is trying to maintain normalcy in a situation that defies normal. And it's beautiful and tragic and amazing to see how it all works out. I can't stop talking about how much I loved this novel and I don't want to keep repeating myself so all I will say is that this novel will touch your heart and give you an interesting perspective on the term "family". I hope everyone will give this novel a shot because it is absolutely worth the time and effort!
I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
Wat een vreselijk slechte representatie van autisme. Waarom heeft dit boek zulke hoge ratings op goodreads?
I was very excited about this book because I'm Autistic myself, and rarely encounter fictional Autistic protagonists who are female. And to be fair, I adored Ginny all the way through. Her way of thinking made sense to me. Despite having no familiarity with adoption or abuse, she just made sense to me in a wonderful, representational way.
Unfortunately, the further into the book I got, the more uncomfortable I was. By the time I finished it, I had to ask my (neurotypical) spouse to read it too and give me their perspective...because to me this book's message seemed to be that Ginny's adoptive parents were to be lauded for what a "difficult" life they had chosen in taken her on, no matter how horrendously they treated her.
I can't claim to be unbiased, because again, all of Ginny's thoughts and decisions made sense to me, for her developmental stage/abuse history/generally different way of seeing the world. But without delving into spoilers too much, no one seemed to be actually hearing Ginny or believing what she told them during her time with her latest "forever family," and it was deeply frustrating for me as a reader who accurately understood everything she was hinting at from chapter one.
By the end of the book I felt Ginny deserved better than where she ended up. My only consolation is that my spouse was even more upset than I was, and that a few other readers agree.
If the author's only goal was create a lovely autistic teen protagonist, he succeeded there. But this book also felt like he was trying to pat the parents of Autistic kids on the back for putting in any effort at all, because they can be such burdens. As an Autistic adult, I find that deeply depressing, and it ruined what was otherwise a very promising story.
Unfortunately, the further into the book I got, the more uncomfortable I was. By the time I finished it, I had to ask my (neurotypical) spouse to read it too and give me their perspective...because to me this book's message seemed to be that Ginny's adoptive parents were to be lauded for what a "difficult" life they had chosen in taken her on, no matter how horrendously they treated her.
I can't claim to be unbiased, because again, all of Ginny's thoughts and decisions made sense to me, for her developmental stage/abuse history/generally different way of seeing the world. But without delving into spoilers too much, no one seemed to be actually hearing Ginny or believing what she told them during her time with her latest "forever family," and it was deeply frustrating for me as a reader who accurately understood everything she was hinting at from chapter one.
By the end of the book I felt Ginny deserved better than where she ended up. My only consolation is that my spouse was even more upset than I was, and that a few other readers agree.
If the author's only goal was create a lovely autistic teen protagonist, he succeeded there. But this book also felt like he was trying to pat the parents of Autistic kids on the back for putting in any effort at all, because they can be such burdens. As an Autistic adult, I find that deeply depressing, and it ruined what was otherwise a very promising story.