34. Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

listened on Audible

320 pgs.

2023
Middle Grades CRF
Finished 5/15/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.32
My rating: 5

My comments:  Simon's a 7th grader and only child.  His mom is an undertaker and his dad is a Catholic deacon.  They move from Omaha, Nebraska to a tiny small town where, because of all its scientific and astronomical activity, no microwaves, cell phones, tv, anything of that sort is allowed.  Simon has been homeschooled for the past year and is heading back to school for the first time in 18 months or so, the first time since something pretty horrible happened to him - which he alludes to, and which slowly becomes known by about the middle of the book.  It's a book about friendship and family and trauma - and how both his parents and he deal with all that's happened.  He also raises a puppy to become a service dog, which is another interesting segment of the story which will greatly appeal to many kids.

33. Mockingbird - Kathryn Erskine

Philomel Books, 2010
$15.99
for: Middle Grades
235 pgs.
Rating: 5 - I loved it.

I had no clue that this would get to me so. A beautifully crafted, haunting book. I've had a few hours to digest this, and I can't get the idea of the father out of my head. Imagine losing your wife to cancer when your kids are really young. Discoveing your daughter has Asperger's Syndrome. And then losing your 8th grade son when he is killed in a school shooting. I'd cry all the time, too.

This story is told from the point-of-view of ten year old Caitlin, who has Aspergers. I've heard it called both Syndrome and Disorder. It's a form of autism. Usually kids have a difficult time communicating with others, are very, very concrete, dislike eye contact and physical touch, and become obsessed with subjects. Usually considered eccentric. Caitlin certainly has all these difficulties. But she has a particularly caring teacher who helps guide her through the fifith grade. Her brother, Devon, used to be the one who taught her all the social rules so that she wouldn't be so "weird." She still remembers all his lessons.

But now Devon's gone. Her father is terrifically grief-stricken and Caitllin, who loves (and understands) words and her dictionary, feels she must find "closure." She becomes obsessed with that idea. At the same time her teacher is trying to teach her about friends - what they are and how to be one. She befriends first grade Michael, who she recognizes from her brother's memorial service. Lo and behold, his mother, a teacher, was one of the three killed. But it is her idea to finish her brother's Eagel Scout project - designing and building a beautiful wooden chest - that starts the healing process.

Erskine uses italics to show dialogue, not quotation marks. I rather liked it.

Woven throughout the book is the story of To Kill a Mockingbird. This family is the 21st century Scout, Jem, and Atticus. This book is a treasure.

Here are some interesting blog reviews about Mockingbird:

Bibliochic (a "future teen librarian))
Six Boxes of Books (three 30-something sisters)
Reading Nook (another teen blogger....love 'em!)