Taylor Jane Simon is an eighteen-year-old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome who has a refreshingly different view of the people she encounters and the life she wants to have. Young adult readers will identify with Taylor’s struggle for independence and self-control, and empathize as she outlines the ways—both positive and negative– that her Asperger’s Syndrome affects her daily life. Connecting with a play by Samuel Beckett, Taylor explores a fear of solitary existence while reaching out to a world at times perplexing. Most important, Taylor wants to be seen as an individual, not as a stereotypical “person with special needs,” or a rare wild flower—images that haunt her from the past. A cameo performance by Taylor’s new gerbil — Harold Pinter– adds further emphasis to themes of existentialism and humour.
See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4
- ISBN: 9780889954373
- Published: 2011 , FITZHENRY & WHITESIDE
- Themes: Asperger's Syndrome, Disability, Family
- Descriptors: Canada, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult (ages 14-18)
- No. of pages: 176