Mockingbird

I wish that I could give a copy of this book to everyone that I know. The main character is a fifth grader named Caitlyn who is struggling to understand what life without her older brother, Devon, means and how to navigate her world without him. Caitlyn has Aspergers Syndrome, and her perceptions

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and observations as she searches for closure and struggles for a way to bridge her reality with the reality of those around her are both poignant and humorous. What is amazing about this book is just how well the author captured the mindset of a ten year old girl with Aspergers. My oldest daughter has Aspergers, and though she is now nineteen, I remember so vividly those years of facial expressions charts, manners mastered one sticker at a time, and the struggle to remember "socially acceptable" behavior. Patiently she would explain to me why socks should be worn inside out, why food "wants to be segregated" on the plate, and why crayons should always be naked - "the paper is itchy". This book is an entertaining and thought provoking glimpse into that world.

"Sometimes I read the same books over and over and over. What's great about books is that the stuff inside doesn't change. People say you can't judge a book by its cover but that's not true because it says right on the cover what's inside. And no matter how many times you read that book the words and pictures don't change. You can open and close books a million times and they stay the same. They say the same words. The charts and pictures are the same colors. Books are not like people. Books are safe."

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I am trying as hard as I possibly can to hold back the tears that are welling up in my eyes right now. I have just finished reading this spectacular, extraordinarily touching book, and it has affected me so much I can't believe it. I don't even know why I'm crying.

It's rare that a book like this

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affects me. Usually when a book states up front that its protagonist is on the autism spectrum, I prepare myself for crying big, hysterical tears, and then... nothing. Books about quirky outsiders, yeah, those get to me. "Stargirl" made my eyes water, "Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree" made me sniffle (happy tears, though), "How to Say Goodbye in Robot" made me weep openly, and I'm not even gonna go into what happened the first time I read "A Corner of the Universe" (okay, that one had a character with some kind of autism in it but I'm letting it slide because it wasn't the protagonist). But stuff like "Marcelo in the Real World" and "Anything But Typical," both of which were highlights of last year for me, leaves me dry-eyed. I strongly disliked "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," so I wasn't surprised that I didn't cry then, but the other two? I felt like a heartless monster, completely unable to empathize with fictional people going through what I do. Then I read "Mockingbird." Whoa. Guess I was wrong.

Okay, what I want to convey to you right now is that the portrayal of Asperger Syndrome here is dead-on. Pitch perfect. All the stereotyped stuff I hoped the book wouldn't lapse into, that I think so many people believe to be fact, was avoided. So much of what Caitlin does and experiences is stuff I did and went through when I was her age. The way she talks. The way she sucks on her sleeves and names gummy worms. Her love of reading. The misinterpretation of social cues. The grossly inappropriate way she handles some things. And, most sadly of all, her difficulty with dealing with people and the way those kids reacted to her. (I definitely wanted to throttle one of those girls, she reminded me so much of one of my past tormentors.) Of course, being a kid with AS is also frustrating to people around you, and the book refuses to shy away from that. At times you'll want to scream at Caitlin, "Don't do that! Stop it!" and that's a perfectly appropriate reaction. It's not hard to see why people are frustrated, yet you will still feel for her and want her to do well. I also loved how Caitlin became friends with a person younger than herself; many people with AS find it easier to talk to people that are a few years older or younger than themselves, I think. (I certainly have, in the past.)

The other characters are great. I can't believe I didn't hate Josh immediately (he used the word "freak" liberally and I'm inclined to despise anyone who does that, fictional or not; it's nails on a chalkboard to me). On the contrary, I felt for him almost immediately, considering what he's been through. (Chapter 35 is when I started crying, if you want to know or would like a warning.) And Michael? Loved him, of course. Such a good kid and a good friend. I felt for Caitlin's dad especially, even when I was wishing he wouldn't cry so much. (Really, though, considering all he's been through, he could've locked himself in his room and stayed in there forever and it would've been completely justified.) I would've liked a little more Emma, though; she seemed like a good kid.

Despite how much I loved it and that I'm giving it the highest possible score, I'll acknowledge that it's not perfect. No book is perfect. A few times, the run-on sentences reminded me of "The Curious Incident," which was unpleasant. The capitalized words took a little while to get used to. A little bit of what Caitlin says is too precocious and cute, even for a kid with AS. Basically, it's not the most unbelievably smooth book to read. The way it's written isn't so overwhelmingly gorgeous that you have to remind yourself that the protagonist basically spent a paragraph of a hundred flowery words just to describe a brick wall, which means there are certain people who won't like it very much. However, the emotional core is sincere and the details are perfect. It may not win any of the big awards, but it should. Considering the buzz it's getting already, it very well could. What do I know?

Anyway, this is so far my favorite book of the year. I know it's only the beginning of the year, but I doubt that any other book this year will have this sort of effect on me. I highly recommend that you give it a look when it comes out in April. I anticipate that I'll be reading it again soon enough.

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The Short of It:

Mockingbird is at once heartbreaking, sad and hopeful. It takes you by the hand, leads you down the path of love and loss and never lets you go.

The Rest of It:

Mockingbird is a special, little book. After Caitlin’s older brother Devon is killed in a school shooting, Caitlin and her

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father struggle to make it through their grief but they are constantly reminded of Devon and can’t seem to find closure. If that isn’t difficult enough, Caitlin suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome so what she sees is often black or white and nothing in between. What makes this story so special is that it’s told from Caitlin’s point of view. This means that when she feels overly anxious about loud noises or finds herself unable to read someone’s expression, we hear or see it from her perspective.

When I first picked this book up, I found it a tad hard to follow. Caitlin’s thought patterns are a bit jumbled and it takes a little bit of time to find the rhythm in her words, but when you do, you can’t help but feel her pain. She loved her brother. He was the only one in the family that “got” her. He anticipated her needs and without him around, she is forced to reassess how she communicates with others.

Here is a quote from page 21 which is where she wants to enter Devon’s room even though she’s been told not to:

I wish I could go in and say Devon, I’m hungry, and he’d grin and his dimples would show and he’d say, You and me both, and we’d go find Dad and order a pizza because it’s Thursday and we’d eat warm drippy extra cheese pizza in front of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

The other thing to note, is that all the dialogue is italicized. I got used to it and it did not detract from the story at all. Seeing things from Caitlin’s point of view was an incredibly powerful experience. This book is geared towards young adults but I think anyone reading it will be drawn to Caitlin. In one sense she is terribly complex but at the core, she is like any other eleven-year-old. She wants to be understood, she wants to fit in and she yearns for friends like any other kid her age.

Mockingbird is a quick but important read and if you’re wondering if there is a connection between this book and To Kill a Mockingbird, there is, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what it is.

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Caitlin is a ten-year-old girl with asperger syndrome. Her older brother, Devon had alternately acted as her teacher, protector, and best friend her entire life. One day (The Day Our Lives Fell Apart), he is dramatically taken away from the her. Now Caitlin is left to navigate a confusing world

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alone. Can she still make something "good and strong and beautiful" out of her life?

Beautifully written, and flawlessly narrated, this is the best novel I have read all year (so far!). I think it is a wonderful companion to To Kill a Mockingbird because the themes are similar but explored in new ways in Mockingbird. Both couple ironic humor and harrowing tragedy and contain compelling characters and plot situations.

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I so enjoyed this book. Kathryn Erskine has given Caitlin a voice that invites us into her world, so that her experience of our world makes perfect sense. We "normal" people (those of us without Asperger's Syndrome) are a confusing, contradictory lot to Caitlin. And she has much to teach us as she

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learns to navigate her family, school, and friends without the help of her big brother. This book is poignant and rich; funny and oh-so sad; a great read.

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Caitlin looks at the world a little differently because she has Asperger's Syndrome. When she can't figure out something that comes naturally to most people, she's always been able to turn to her older brother Devon for help. But after a tragic shooting rocks their small town, Devon is gone. And

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Caitlin will have to figure out how to deal with her grief on her own.

This is a touching story and it brought me to tears in more than one place. Kathryn Erskine also manages to infuse some humor in the story. Caitlin is a protagonist that I won't soon forget. I'd recommend it to fans of Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and anyone wanting to see the world through the eyes of a kid on the autism spectrum.

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Erskine, Katherine. (2010). Mockingbird. New York: Penguin/Philomel. 340 pp. ISBN 978-0-399-25264-8 (Hardcover); $15.99.

Caitlin is ten and has Asperger’s and her brother has been murdered. Black and white is easy. Caitlin, however, must figure out how to bring color and closure and other hard

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things into her life. I am a sucker for books told from the Asperger’s/Autistic spectrum. The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has an exhibit that allows visitors to see the skin on their hands and arms magnified exponentially. Mockingbird does the same sort of thing, but with concepts like, “friends” or “closure.” Too often we read a word like “empathy” and we just assume that we know what that word means without bothering to explore the meaning up close and magnified. Erskine follows the structure of To Kill a Mockingbird (the movie) in subtle ways. Like Caitlin who has to navigate the conflicting meanings of things like smiles, especially when people do NOT follow the facial expressions chart, readers must discover that phrases like “Mission chest” have layered meanings, as do the way words are capitalized. When one does a book featuring Autistic/Asperger’s the details must be right. They match what I have read and experienced. Caitlin draws a picture of the middle school art teacher but does not include his eyes (and eye contact is a detail that she works on constantly with Mrs. Brooks). Devon is working on his Eagle Scout project, in which Scout was to play an important role. We have the irritation of shirt tags and quarter cut oak. We have the capitalizations. The details of Caitlin’s voice remain true throughout the book and yet Caitlin’s growth, which stimulates her grieving father’s progress, seems entirely natural. Look for this one to win awards and show up on all kinds of lists. Purchase this one for high school libraries and place it in the hands of anyone that loves exceptionally well-crafted stories in which every word matters.

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Caitlin Ann Smith is a 5th grade girl with Asperger’s Syndrome. When her brother dies in a school shooting, she must find closure. Her brother had been her one friend who could explain to her how she should say and do things without insulting them. Without her brother, she has difficulty

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comforting her grieving father. This is a heart-rending story but, though it starts out very sad, it comes to a warming conclusion. I know children’s books about grief abound, but this book is special because it also shows readers how children with Asperger’s might seem rude when they are really trying to be helpful. Definitely recommended.

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This book is narrated by a young girl named Caitling, who as Asberger's syndrome. Caitlin loses her mother at a young age and later in life loses her brother. Her and her father are left to deal with the pain daily. Caitlin is not like a normal child and sees and understands thing differently.

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Caitlin is unable to deal with the emotions of losing her brother and can't seem to find any way to express her emotions. Caitlin starts seeing a counselor and makes progress. She finds that all she and her community need to mourn the death of her brother and others is some closure. Caitlin and her dad finish working on a chest, that Caitlin's father and brother began, and donates it to the school. Caitlin finds ways to express her emotions and give back to her community, despite her disability.

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This is about a little girl with aspergers coming to grips with her brothers death and finding 'closure' for herself and her community. It is quite interesting because the book is from the girls point of view so you can see how she reacts to situations differently than a student without aspergers.

Interesting read ... yet ANOTHER book with a main character on the autism/Asperger's spectrum, so initially I wasn't that excited about this, and only grudgingly picked it up so I could see if I thought it was in the Newbery running this year. But, it is a very touching story about a girl and her

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widowed father coping with the tragic death of her older brother. It's extremely bittersweet and I cried at the end. On the subway. I loved the dad, I loved Mrs. Brook the school counselor.

Still, I'm a little hesitant about how this book portrayed a young person with Asperger's. It felt, to me, like it was buying into the myth -- that if you just dig deep enough, or if something is important enough, you're going to get the emotional response you're looking for. This was certainly not the crux of the story, in fact, it often did a great job of capturing Caitlin's efforts in a believable way ... this is more of an underlying thing that crept up on me by the end. It's possible that my jaded exasperation with the proliferation of autism books is coloring my response to this.

It also felt a little short ... it would work, I think, with many of the supporting characters appearing as quick sketches. The middle school art teacher, for example. But for some others, if I'm to believe their significance to the story, and feel invested in them, I need more dimension. Josh, the mean kid in her class, would be a good example of this. Aunt Jolee was a wasted opportunity for an awesome character. It seemed like the author wanted it both ways.

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I so enjoyed this book. Kathryn Erskine has given Caitlin a voice that invites us into her world, so that her experience of our world makes perfect sense. We "normal" people (those of us without Asperger's Syndrome) are a confusing, contradictory lot to Caitlin. And she has much to teach us as she

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learns to navigate her family, school, and friends without the help of her big brother. This book is poignant and rich; funny and oh-so sad; a great read.

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I so enjoyed this book. Kathryn Erskine has given Caitlin a voice that invites us into her world, so that her experience of our world makes perfect sense. We "normal" people (those of us without Asperger's Syndrome) are a confusing, contradictory lot to Caitlin. And she has much to teach us as she

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learns to navigate her family, school, and friends without the help of her big brother. This book is poignant and rich; funny and oh-so sad; a great read.

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I so enjoyed this book. Kathryn Erskine has given Caitlin a voice that invites us into her world, so that her experience of our world makes perfect sense. We "normal" people (those of us without Asperger's Syndrome) are a confusing, contradictory lot to Caitlin. And she has much to teach us as she

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learns to navigate her family, school, and friends without the help of her big brother. This book is poignant and rich; funny and oh-so sad; a great read.

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Caitlin is almost 11. She has Asperger's, and emphasizes she is not autistic. She has early intervention and pull-out sessions in her school with Mrs. Brook, her counselor. At times, Caitlin says things that makes Mrs. Brook's head do a turtle jerk.

If you know anyone with Asperger's, this book is

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even more meaningful. I’m reminded of one student I had both in the second grade and in high school. The student would come into my office ANGRY because of someone else. When telling the student the other person’s side of the issue, I often drew comic strips with word balloons. That helped show perspective and the child would go, “ah. I understand. But that’s still not fair.”

Mockingbird has recently been nominated for the first BFYA (ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults award) to be given in 2011. It well deserves this award!

ARC received through Around the World tours

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This book for young people is narrated by a ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Aspergers Syndrome and is dealing with her own and her father's grief after the sudden death of her big brother -- the one person in the world who seemed to understand her.

Just getting through life under ordinary

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circumstances is a battle for Caitlin, whose classmates and teachers don't understand her. Her guidance counselor works with her to get her to learn how to understand other people's point of view and to have empathy, but everyone -- sometimes even including the counsellor -- seems unable to understand and empathize with how Caitlin views the world.

Caitlin is a literal thinker who sees things in black and white without shades of gray. She hears the word "closure" on a news broadcast about the community tragedy which took her brother's life, and seeks out a dictionary definition of the word -- and then the reality of what it means.

I believe Erskine creates very believable characters -- Caitlyn herself, struggling to understand herself and her world; the good-hearted but dense and grief-stricken father; the well-intentioned but sometimes clueless guidance counsellor; the teachers with their varying degrees of understanding; and the other kids who can sometimes be monsters without meaning to. And Devon, the deceased brother, is a genuine character in the book as he is fleshed out by Caitlyn's fond memories.

The book has some stylistic idiosyncracies because it is written in Caitlin's voice. Dialogue is italicized. Capital letters appear in odd places -- but not odd at all, once you get into Caitlin's worldview. I found her voice very authentic and powerful.

In the place where a dedication would normally be placed, Erskine simply writes: "In hopes that we may all understand each other better." I think this book may be a step in that direction.

A very moving book!

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Caitlin, a fifth-grader with Asperger’s, is struggling to make sense of her older brother Devon’s death from a school shooting. However, she just wants things to be black and white, but Caitlin is realizing that interpersonal relationships, while important and necessary, are anything but easy.

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Caitlin must learn how to best interact with others in order to find closure regarding Devon’s death.

MOCKINGBIRD is a moving and important book about several difficult subjects. Opening up this book is like leaping immediately into Caitlin’s world and seeing the world as we know it in a different light.

I’ve always thought that perhaps people with Asperger’s may actually see the world far more accurately than most of us ever do. Caitlin’s frankness makes us question lots of things we take for granted. Why DO we place so much importance on telling white lies, for example? The fascinating thing about MOCKINGBIRD is that, even through Caitlin’s limited narration, we can clearly see both sides of the conversation. We can see why the grown-up Caitlin’s talking to is so conflicted as to how to answer her, but we can also see why Caitlin acts the way she does, asks the questions she does.

At the same time, the general idea behind MOCKINGBIRD has already been done before so many times that this sadly does not stand out more. While it was an engrossing and maybe even enlightening read, there was still something about it that felt…missing. There were lots of moments that were sweet and heartwrenching (particularly moments when Michael was in the picture), but a lot of times I just felt detached from Caitlin.

Still, MOCKINGBIRD is a worthy read if this is the type of book you’re looking for. It’s an easy introduction into the thoughts and feelings behind a young child with Asperger’s.

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Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.

I had heard a lot of great things about this book, and it just did not live up to my expectations. I actually found it a little precious, which makes me sad because I know that Erskine wrote this for a really important reason. Caitlyn has Aspergers Syndrome, and lived with her father and brother

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until her brother died in a school shooting just before the book opens. Her father is totally breaking down, and she is pretty much abandoned in all the important ways except for her counselor, Mrs. Brook. Mrs. Brook really cares for Caitlyn and cares about how she is perceived and how she gets along in the world. She has patience for Caitlyn and spends time guiding her, trying to help her have friends and bring closure to what has happened. Pain is throughout this book – from her father who cries on a regular basis to the cousin of one of the school shooters who feels blamed for the crimes. The dialogue is written in italics, regardless of who is talking, which also set me back quite often. I think Erskine had some great ideas in this book, I’m just not sure they came to fruition. Now I’m stuck with whether I should blog about it, since I made a big pronouncement that I was reading all the National Book Award finalists. I just read a highly regarded reviewer’s comments on the book, which made me feel better – like I wasn’t so alone in feeling that it was cutesy. I also forgot to mention the whole To Kill a Mockingbird connection, which sometimes was too much – the way Caitlyn’s mind seems to work means she is bringing up the same connections over and over again. Now I feel a little better.

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A novel about Caitlin, a young girl with Asperger's disease who is dealing with the death of her brother. He dies in a school shooting and she is not only dealing with his death but also how the community responds to it.

I loved Caitlin's character very much. I thought her communications with those

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around her were true and honest. However, sometimes I felt the author tried too hard to make everything connect and I did feel as though the ending was too sunshine and lollipops.

If you're interesting in books that have main characters on the Autism Spectrum, I highly recommend "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time." It's more literary and I found his voice to resonate more with the reader.

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Ten-year-old Caitlin has trouble understanding the world around her. Since she has Asperger’s syndrome, she does not know how to handle things outside of the black and white certainty of facts.. Her brother, Devon, has always helped her navigate the complexities of emotions and social norms. But

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when Devon is killed in a school shooting, Caitlin must find her own way to “Get It.” Through the help of her school counselor, she begins to find not only closure, but also friendship. Caitlin’s first-person narrative allows readers to see the thought process and motives behind her seemingly strange behavior. While by no means a happy book, Mockingbird’s pieces of humor and hopeful ending prevent it from being too depressing. There are some debates about the accuracy of Kathryn Erskine’s portrayal of Asperger’s. Overall, however, Mockingbird is a powerful book that will help children learn to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. This book is especially appropriate for children in middle school. It is highly recommended for the young adult section of public libraries, and middle school and high school libraries.

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A enlightening look into the world of a 5th grader on the spectrum dealing with real life.

This was another book with a protagonist that has Asperger's Syndrome, that you can't help but like. I don't know why these books resonate with me. Maybe it is because I have seen many kids like this in my teaching career. For a child with Aspergers, any major change can be traumatic. The trauma in

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the story comes in the form of a school shooting that takes away Caitlyn's brother Devon. He helped keep her on the right path and now he is gone. For anyone that would be horrible. Add in the fact that Caitlyn has Aspergers and you've cranked it up a notch. She is trying to find a way to get past it all and ends up befrinding a first grader named Michael who has suffered a loss in his life. Maybe this is the path they need to take for healing. Definitely a book I will recommend to our librarian and my students.

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Mockingbird tells the story of Caitlin, a young girl with Aspergers. Caitlin is trying to make sense of her world after the death of her brother who was killed in a school shooting. Caitlin's Aspergers makes it difficult for her to understand and process her emotions and grief or understand the

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emotions of others. Together with her father, her school counselor and some of the children at her school that become her friends, she learns how to empathize and is able to move on.

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