Anything But Typical

Baskin, Nora Raleigh. 2009. ANYTHING BUT TYPICAL. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416963783 [Suggested Grade Levels 6- 9]

REVIEW

ANYTHING BUT TYPICAL stars Jason Blake, an autistic hero, who loves to write stories and participate in online forums. When his parents surprise him with a trip to the Storyboard Writing convention, Jason is anything but excited. As much as he loves writing and sharing that passion with his online friends—in particular PhoenixBird—he is scared to meet anyone from the online world in person. He is afraid that he will be judged, worried that his differences would never be accepted if they were known. Can Jason learn to accept his differences? Can he overcome his fears?

ANYTHING BUT TYPICAL is a beautiful and compelling coming-of-age story. Baskin has captured, with wisdom and beauty, an authentic voice and a unique character.

CONNECTIONS

Lead readers in these discussion questions: In what ways can you relate to Jason? Has fear ever kept you from doing something you wanted to do? Do you think Jason’s story (the one that he is writing) relates to his own life? Do you think Jason ended his story the right way?

RELATED BOOKS

Other books with characters with autism:

Choldenko, Gennifer. AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS. ISBN 9780142403709

Choldenko, Gennifer. AL CAPONE SHINES MY SHOES. ISBN 9780803734609

Lord, Cynthia. RULES. ISBN 9780439443838

Stork, Francisco X. MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD. ISBN 9780545054744

By Becky Laney