Scan barcode
A review by 3rian
Real by Carol Cujec, Peyton Goddard
4.0
I wish I had more books like this when I was a kid.
The narrator is a teenager named Charity, who had been diagnosed with low-functioning autism and is unable to control her body or communicate with the world around her. She is highly intelligent with loving and supportive parents, but struggles with how she is perceived as the exact opposite by nearly everyone else.
I haven’t read any young adult fiction in a while, so it took me a little bit to shift gears and roll with the simpler dialogue and situations, which are pitched with the younger reader in mind. There are some heartbreaking scenes right at the beginning involving mistreatment at a special-needs school - nothing over the top, but hard to read as it was cruel and sadly completely believable. The transition to a mainstream school is at the heart of the book and introduces a cast of supportive characters as well as bullies.
The plot beats are familiar and the story moves through them really quickly to arrive at a positive resolution, but that didn’t detract from the reading experience at all. For me, the book’s main strength was in how it helped me empathize with the narrator, not just her frustrations at feeling like a prisoner in her own body but also the awareness (and fear) of impending uncontrollable outbursts and the calming effects of self-stimulation like rocking back and forth or flapping hands. I also appreciated the insight into a different type of thought process, as Charity processes situations by making connections to memorized animal reference guides (right down to the page number). It’s all presented very sincerely and with great care.
Real is an important and worthwhile book, successfully voicing an example of a neuro-diverse perspective for young people. We could always use more like it as it’s never a bad thing to encourage kindness and understanding.
The narrator is a teenager named Charity, who had been diagnosed with low-functioning autism and is unable to control her body or communicate with the world around her. She is highly intelligent with loving and supportive parents, but struggles with how she is perceived as the exact opposite by nearly everyone else.
I haven’t read any young adult fiction in a while, so it took me a little bit to shift gears and roll with the simpler dialogue and situations, which are pitched with the younger reader in mind. There are some heartbreaking scenes right at the beginning involving mistreatment at a special-needs school - nothing over the top, but hard to read as it was cruel and sadly completely believable. The transition to a mainstream school is at the heart of the book and introduces a cast of supportive characters as well as bullies.
The plot beats are familiar and the story moves through them really quickly to arrive at a positive resolution, but that didn’t detract from the reading experience at all. For me, the book’s main strength was in how it helped me empathize with the narrator, not just her frustrations at feeling like a prisoner in her own body but also the awareness (and fear) of impending uncontrollable outbursts and the calming effects of self-stimulation like rocking back and forth or flapping hands. I also appreciated the insight into a different type of thought process, as Charity processes situations by making connections to memorized animal reference guides (right down to the page number). It’s all presented very sincerely and with great care.
Real is an important and worthwhile book, successfully voicing an example of a neuro-diverse perspective for young people. We could always use more like it as it’s never a bad thing to encourage kindness and understanding.