Same But Different

I bought this for my son, who is autistic and about to turn 12. I don't think I'll give him to it yet--maybe this Christmas--but I found it to be a very thoughtful, honest book. It's mostly told through the alternating viewpoints of teenage twins Callie and Charlie, the literary counterparts of

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authors Ryan and RJ. Callie is accustomed to being the guardian of her autistic brother, but after he's kept behind a grade, she tries to step back and let him be his own person... which is hard when she sees him bullied and taken advantage of by so-called friends. Charlie is frustrated by a world that overwhelms him, mourns the loss of his dog, and tries to figure out the social rituals around asking out a girl.

Charlie had several traits in common with my son, and that made the book feel very personal to me right from the start. I really like how their mother helped with the book but also stepped back to let it be told through their voices. One chapter even addressed the semantics of "having autism" and "being autistic," which I thought was very important as a matter of identity. The back of the book included numerous resources for autistic teens and parents.

I highly recommend this for classrooms, school libraries, and families with autistic teens.

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