Anything But Typical

A groundbreaking novel told from the first-person perspective of an autistic teen.

Jason is autistic. When we look at the world through his eyes, we understand why he acts the way he does, even if he seems strange to the 'neurotypicals' around him. He doesn't really have any friends at school, and his relationship with his parents is strained. He feels most at home when he is writing: Online, people read his stories and comment on them without ever knowing that he is autistic. But then he starts corresponding with a girl he meets through online writing boards-he knows her only by her screen name, Phoenixbird. She has no idea that he's autistic, and when Jason's mother drops the bomb that she's taking him to a national writing conference, Jason is terrified to find out that Phoenixbird will be there, too. If they meet in person, Jason knows that it will all be over. Will he find the strength to accept the outcome of that meeting, and more significantly, accept himself?

Reviews

'Brilliant' Kirkus

'Luminous. This is an enormously difficult subject, but Baskin, without dramatics or sentimentality, makes it universal.'

About The Author

Nora Raleigh Baskin was chosen as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for her novel What Every Girl (Except Me) Knows. She is the author of a number of novels for middle-graders and teens, including The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah, published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Nora lives with her family in Weston, Connecticut.