{"id":132438,"date":"2020-10-23T11:05:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T00:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=132438"},"modified":"2020-10-23T11:05:10","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T00:05:10","slug":"review-an-unusual-boy-by-fiona-higgins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2020\/10\/23\/review-an-unusual-boy-by-fiona-higgins\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"An<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A welcome long weekend enabled this reviewer to read Fiona Higgins\u2019 fourth and best novel yet in an uninterrupted day-and-a-half. This devastatingly beautiful story of family and a boy who defies labels is surely the most satisfying and uplifting novel I\u2019ve read this year. An Unusual Boy<\/a><\/em><\/strong> superbly examines the dangers of children\u2019s unfettered internet access as well as the perils of labelling or judging those we consider different or atypical.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Fiona<\/a>

Fiona Higgins<\/p><\/div>\n

Eleven-year-old Jackson Curtis lives with his music therapist mother Julia and two sisters on Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches. His father Andy is overseas on business more than he\u2019s at home so Julia juggles the household and parenting mostly on her own, though with some not-always-welcome assistance from her mother-in-law, Pamela.<\/p>\n\n\n

Jackson\u2019s neurodiversity is certainly Julia\u2019s greatest challenge. Parenting a growing boy\u2019s emotional development can be difficult at the best of times. Jackson, however, is not like other children. Despite assessments from multiple specialists, diagnosis of his condition remains elusive. Clearly, he is intelligent with a phenomenal memory but his mind is \u201cliteral and linear\u201d and he often has difficulty finding the right words to communicate cohesively with his interlocutors. Wherever Jackson sits on the spectrum, he certainly does not function mentally the way that most would consider \u2018normal\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He develops a passion for chess, soccer and dance but, as he\u2019s considered strange by his peers, he has few friends. When his soccer teammate Digby invites him over for an afternoon\u2019s play, Jackson \u2013 and Julia \u2013 are delighted. Digby, however, has dark issues of his own which lead to a school incident involving Jackson that threatens his entire future and turns the Curtis family\u2019s world upside-down, culminating in a police investigation and communal estrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higgins provides a vivid and well-rounded supporting cast of characters who stand by the beleaguered Curtises \u2013 dance teacher Miss Marion, soccer coach Steve and teenage Milla Curtis\u2019 surfer boyfriend Riley. All play a crucial role in the resolution of this palpable suburban crisis which would be any parent\u2019s nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggested book club questions included at the end of the novel help to make this a dream choice for any discussion group that will surely be left questioning assumptions about normalcy. The quote that arguably resonates the most is from Nanna Pam who reminds Milla, \u201cNormal doesn\u2019t exist, darling. It\u2019s just a cycle on the washing machine\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—An Unusual Boy<\/a><\/em> by Fiona Higgins (Boldwood Books) is out now.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Surely the most satisfying and uplifting novel I\u2019ve read this year.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":132443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[6678],"tags":[12025,715,723,1974,1996,4484],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/AnUnusualBoy-Social.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132438"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132453,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132438\/revisions\/132453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}