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A review by thesaltiestlibrarian
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. The opinions expressed herein are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.
If there was one nonfiction book I would give to school-age kids for Autism Acceptance Month, it would be this.
Not only is McAnulty a fledgling world-changer, he's a brilliant naturalist and future professional ecologist. This book follows him through three seasons, where he and his family explore the wild--and not so wild--areas of Northern Ireland and Scotland. McAnulty's utmost passion is ornithology, and it shows in his profuse enthusiasm for our fine feathered friends.
With colorful prose and evocative imagery, McAnulty makes case after case for introducing programs to help conserve what we already have, and to further introduce (or reintroduce, in some cases) natural life that bolsters and revives ecosystems already in place. What's more, he ruminates on how autism has released in a flood this passion for our wild world.
However, there are sadder moments, too. Moments when McAnulty reflects on how bullying has scarred him and made him wary of friendships. Which, dude, I totally understand. People have tried to fix me too. People haven't believed me about my TS and sundry disorders. But the bright spot comes in when McAnulty stands up in spite of these people, and he uses his disorder as a channeling tool to bring forth all of the potential he has. More kids, more adults, more people need to read this book to understand how "disabled" simply means "differently abled." We are not broken toys to fix and poke. We are fully capable of amazing things. That needs to be taught more.
I'll be recommending this book to every single person I know and putting it into the hands of every patron I come across. We need more OwnVoices books exactly like this, that celebrate life and passions and humanity of those society has made "other" or "fragile." McAnulty has a superb future ahead of him and is bound to change the world.
If there was one nonfiction book I would give to school-age kids for Autism Acceptance Month, it would be this.
Not only is McAnulty a fledgling world-changer, he's a brilliant naturalist and future professional ecologist. This book follows him through three seasons, where he and his family explore the wild--and not so wild--areas of Northern Ireland and Scotland. McAnulty's utmost passion is ornithology, and it shows in his profuse enthusiasm for our fine feathered friends.
With colorful prose and evocative imagery, McAnulty makes case after case for introducing programs to help conserve what we already have, and to further introduce (or reintroduce, in some cases) natural life that bolsters and revives ecosystems already in place. What's more, he ruminates on how autism has released in a flood this passion for our wild world.
However, there are sadder moments, too. Moments when McAnulty reflects on how bullying has scarred him and made him wary of friendships. Which, dude, I totally understand. People have tried to fix me too. People haven't believed me about my TS and sundry disorders. But the bright spot comes in when McAnulty stands up in spite of these people, and he uses his disorder as a channeling tool to bring forth all of the potential he has. More kids, more adults, more people need to read this book to understand how "disabled" simply means "differently abled." We are not broken toys to fix and poke. We are fully capable of amazing things. That needs to be taught more.
I'll be recommending this book to every single person I know and putting it into the hands of every patron I come across. We need more OwnVoices books exactly like this, that celebrate life and passions and humanity of those society has made "other" or "fragile." McAnulty has a superb future ahead of him and is bound to change the world.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism and Bullying