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deschatjes 's review for:
New from Here
by Kelly Yang
This is a book that brought tears to my eyes a couple of times - it's so raw, so recent, and in fact ongoing. It is the story of many of us living in Hong Kong or China who left as the pandemic started thinking we'd be back in a month or so. Separated from family and consistently frustrated by an external world that initially ignored the threat of Covid completely and refused to take any precautions and then moved to blame and persecution while still not taking the necessary steps to protect their populations.
But more than that, it's the story of the pandemic at the micro level - in a family where the parents lose their jobs or have their hours cut. Where relationships occur over chats and screens.
and then we get to the ADHD bit. When my ADHD son was growing up, beside Joey Pigza - there were NO books with ADHD characters, and even that one was totally non-relatable to him with unsympathetic family members and teachers and only medication as an option, plus the whole socio-economic matters that were important but an added complication that he luckily didn't encounter. In this book ADHD is shown for what it is - something that is truly beyond the control of the child. Something that makes them behave in ways that have sometimes terrible consequences, not just for themselves, but for their whole family. The dilemma of helping such a child to manage their neuro-diversity in a positive and proactive way, while buffering for when things go (horribly) wrong. The misunderstandings of everyone around and the blame. Then constant blame and finger pointing. And the impact on the siblings.
I hope that Kelly Yang writes more about this topic.
Thanks to libro.fm for audiobook arc.
But more than that, it's the story of the pandemic at the micro level - in a family where the parents lose their jobs or have their hours cut. Where relationships occur over chats and screens.
and then we get to the ADHD bit. When my ADHD son was growing up, beside Joey Pigza - there were NO books with ADHD characters, and even that one was totally non-relatable to him with unsympathetic family members and teachers and only medication as an option, plus the whole socio-economic matters that were important but an added complication that he luckily didn't encounter. In this book ADHD is shown for what it is - something that is truly beyond the control of the child. Something that makes them behave in ways that have sometimes terrible consequences, not just for themselves, but for their whole family. The dilemma of helping such a child to manage their neuro-diversity in a positive and proactive way, while buffering for when things go (horribly) wrong. The misunderstandings of everyone around and the blame. Then constant blame and finger pointing. And the impact on the siblings.
I hope that Kelly Yang writes more about this topic.
Thanks to libro.fm for audiobook arc.