In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.
I did not mean to like this book. It is a National Book Award Winner and nominated for the Georgia Book Award and therefore, to me, it is important literature. Which must mean, I will not like it. I rarely like things that win awards.
However, this book is an exception. It is written in first person by an eleven years old girl with Aspergers syndrome. She is trying to make sense of a world in which her beloved older brother has just died and her father is falling apart. Fortunately, she has a wonderful counselor in her school to work with her.
Although there are no laugh out loud moments, there are scenes that make you smile . . . and there are scenes that bring tears to your eyes.
I cannot say why, but I really did like this book . . . even if I didn’t mean to.
Elaine Reads . . . constantly! 