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Review
'Compulsively addictive . . . heartbreaking . . . a moving picture of a boy whose weakest subject is life' Daily Telegraph 'Riveting and unforgettable . . . brilliant' Julie Orringer, author of How to Breathe Underwater
Lionel Shriver, author of 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'
'Cammie McGovern displays considerable insight into the complex, often cruel hierarchies of childhood'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
"KEVIN IS FINE," Miss Lattimore, their fifth-grade teacher told them. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"KEVIN IS FINE," Miss Lattimore, their fifth-grade teacher told them. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Cammie McGovern writes about autism and childhood with great assurance. Her characters really come to life and she has a writing style that is easy to read and draws you in. This would make a great film. Highly Recommended!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I loved this book; not only is it a great mystery, but it also portrays autistic children in a perceptive and moving way that is much truer to the vast majority of such children than "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NIght-time". A colleague of my wife who works extensively with autistic children is recommending this book to all this patients.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Cara, 31 and her 9-year-old son Adam cope with autism. Adam has an especially severe form of it; he is marginally verbal; insists on routines and does not engage in imaginitive play. Cara is a single mother who works diligently with the boy after he was diagnosed with autism at age 3.
Cara coped with differently abled people all of her life. When she was in elementary school, her classmate and later to become friend Kevin was severely injured in an accident, leaving him with permanent physical limitations. Her best friend Suzette becomes agoraphobic in early adulthood and sequesters herself in her family home after sharing a flat with Cara.
When Cara says that Adam "learned to please her" and "to make her happy" by pretending to use a banana as a telephone after she insisted he do this. Forcing that kind of "pretend play" does not spark imagination; rather, for many people with autism, it is only natural to wonder "what on earth is fun about pretending a banana is a phone? And neurotypicals (NTs) talk about us and the way we play! At least we don't pretend to use edible telephones!" That was my immediate response. Donna Williams addresses this issue as well in her books about autism; what people learn to do is "give the desired response." How right she is!
Cara and Adam's world is irrevocably changed when Adam's 10-year-old classmate Amelia is found murdered near the school playground. Sadly, Adam is a suspect and it takes some clever sleuthing on the part of a 13-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome to crack the case. Morgan, the older child as well as other children in his "special social support group" have been targeted by bullies and subjected to extreme cruelty. Morgan takes an interest in Adam and in time, the pair bond in a fashion. Morgan will go to the mat for Adam and, it appears Adam senses this. Both have special interests; Adam the opera which he loves to hear and Morgan, trains and other obscure topics which catch his interest.
I loved it when Morgan's classmate Emma explains to him why the other children found it hard to listen to him provide detailed explanations of his interests; I loved it even more when Emma tells him that he was not asked to tutor another child as a reward, but because she "heard the teachers talking and they paired children with problems to help each other." I am so glad that truth has been brought to light as I have known bright children on the a/A spectrum who disliked tutoring and saw it for what it really was. Emma hit the bull's eye on that one.
This is an excellent and riveting book that portrays autistic characters in a realistic light. Amelia, the casualty of the story was on the spectrum as well - her diagnosis was PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified). The ending was a bit of a surprise, but Adam's good nature shown all throughout the story. I recommend this along with Mark Haddon's book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time." I want more books like this that show autistic people in a realistic light and give autistic characters a place in the literary sun.
Cara coped with differently abled people all of her life. When she was in elementary school, her classmate and later to become friend Kevin was severely injured in an accident, leaving him with permanent physical limitations. Her best friend Suzette becomes agoraphobic in early adulthood and sequesters herself in her family home after sharing a flat with Cara.
When Cara says that Adam "learned to please her" and "to make her happy" by pretending to use a banana as a telephone after she insisted he do this. Forcing that kind of "pretend play" does not spark imagination; rather, for many people with autism, it is only natural to wonder "what on earth is fun about pretending a banana is a phone? And neurotypicals (NTs) talk about us and the way we play! At least we don't pretend to use edible telephones!" That was my immediate response. Donna Williams addresses this issue as well in her books about autism; what people learn to do is "give the desired response." How right she is!
Cara and Adam's world is irrevocably changed when Adam's 10-year-old classmate Amelia is found murdered near the school playground. Sadly, Adam is a suspect and it takes some clever sleuthing on the part of a 13-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome to crack the case. Morgan, the older child as well as other children in his "special social support group" have been targeted by bullies and subjected to extreme cruelty. Morgan takes an interest in Adam and in time, the pair bond in a fashion. Morgan will go to the mat for Adam and, it appears Adam senses this. Both have special interests; Adam the opera which he loves to hear and Morgan, trains and other obscure topics which catch his interest.
I loved it when Morgan's classmate Emma explains to him why the other children found it hard to listen to him provide detailed explanations of his interests; I loved it even more when Emma tells him that he was not asked to tutor another child as a reward, but because she "heard the teachers talking and they paired children with problems to help each other." I am so glad that truth has been brought to light as I have known bright children on the a/A spectrum who disliked tutoring and saw it for what it really was. Emma hit the bull's eye on that one.
This is an excellent and riveting book that portrays autistic characters in a realistic light. Amelia, the casualty of the story was on the spectrum as well - her diagnosis was PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified). The ending was a bit of a surprise, but Adam's good nature shown all throughout the story. I recommend this along with Mark Haddon's book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time." I want more books like this that show autistic people in a realistic light and give autistic characters a place in the literary sun.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not bad
It's well written, and a pleasant enough read, but I didn't find it hugely gripping, maybe because I'm not especially interested in autism. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Fruitella
Reasonable Read
This was my book club book choice and it was an easy read. Not the best book in the world but I enjoyed reading it.
Published 13 months ago by K. Dance
A brilliant insightful read that I couldn't put down!
This book was brilliant and I couldn't stop reading it....I was hooked!!
The plot is easy to relate to and well written. Read more
The plot is easy to relate to and well written. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mrs. E. L. Davis
Fantastic!
This is the best book I have read in a long time! I finished it in two days and found it really hard to put down - the plot keeps you hooked until the end and the characters are so... Read more
Published on 31 May 2007 by C. Searle
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