Born on a blue day : inside the extraordinary mind of an autistic savant : a memoir

Author: Daniel Tammet

Publisher: New York: Free Press 2007
ISBN- 978-1416535072
pages: 240
Author's blog

Classification: Adult
Genre: Biography,
Topics: autism, GLBT, coming of age
Media Type: Book

Grade level: 10+

Reader's annotation: Take a journey into the mind of someone who sees personalities in numbers and can learn new languages in a snap but struggles with some of the things most of us take for granted.

Summary: This is a memoir of an autistic savant who really wants the rest of the world to understand what he and others like him go through on a daily basis as they live with their condition. At the time of writing his story, Daniel lives with his boyfriend, has a job that he enjoys and is living an almost normal functioning life in a lot of ways. But it wasn’t always this way and we see the kind of internal struggles Daniel had to deal with as he grew up. Fascinating story that is a great follow-up after reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. He takes us from the beginning, from how is parents dealt with him as a baby and small child, through his childhood and teenage years to his adulthood.

Evaluation: Amazing insight into the life of a savant. The reader gets a front row seat to how he got where he got without feeling like you are invading his space, which of course is what he is struggling with all the time. The way he “sees” the world will benefit anyone who reads this and peak their imagination.

My Sister's Keeper

Author: Jodi Picoult

Publisher: NewYork: Atria 2004
ISBN- 978-0743454520
pages: 432
Author's website

Classification: Adult Fiction
Genre: Contemporary life
Topics: issues, siblings, coming of age, emancipation
Media Type: Book

Grade level: 8-adult

Reader's annotation: Conceived to become a bone marrow donor for her leukemia-stricken sister Anna decides that she has had enough and it is time for her to take a stand and take control of her own life.

Summary: The story takes place when Anna is a teenager, but through flashbacks and memories from all the characters involved in this dilemma we get a complete picture of all the issues and a bigger story about family, loyalty, love and responsibility - to ourselves and to others. Anna was conceived to help her sister Kate, who was diagnosed with leukemia when quite young, it seems certain she will die without this drastic measure taken. It was just supposed to be for the use of some stem cells and then when that didn’t work the doctors started on more aggressive measures. By the time Anna is thirteen, she is ready to hire her own lawyer to take control of her life. Kate seems to understand but her mother is devastated with this turn of events and does whatever she can to stop her. Their brother is no help and he has problems of his own and the father tries to stay calm and supportive of everyone. A riveting story that includes several surprise twists.

Evaluation: Picoult writes books about ethical dilemmas and this one is full of them. Told from several viewpoints this book makes the reader think about right and wrong and what is morally correct. Good book to start a discussion about a variety of issues including loyalty and responsibility versus free will and personal needs.

The Devil Wears Prada

Author: Lauren Weisberger

Publisher: New York: Doubleday 2003
ISBN-978-0385509268
pages: 360
Author's blog

Classification: Young Adult Fiction
Genre: Chick Lit
Topics: humor, journalism
Media Type: Book

Grade level: 10-Adult

Reader's annotation: Is suffering under the editor from hell really going to get her a writing job at the New Yorker, even if she is the most powerful? Andrea is going to find out, if it kills her.

Summary: Ivy league graduate Andrea, wants to break into the magazine business but she knows she will have to pay her dues. Although she wants to work for the New Yorker, it is a fashion magazine that will hire her. She walks unsuspectingly into a vipers next of competition and expectation. Although she is clearly being abused in her job, editor Miranda is too powerful to complain so Andrea does the best she can and then does better. We laugh at her escapades and marvel at her creativeness in pleasing her boss.

Evaluation: Very funny book, a great summer reading choice. Teens who read fashion magazines or are thinking of going into publishing will enjoy this chick lit story. The movie was also very funny and stayed fairly close to the book.

Time travelers wife

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

Publisher: San Francisco CA: MacAdam/Cage Publisher 2002
ISBN-978-1931561464
pages: 560
Author's website

Classification: Adult Fiction
Genre: Romance
Topics: Time travel
Media Type: Book

Grade level: 10-adult

Reader's annotation: What would it be like if your life was lived out of sequence, that is the fate of Henry as he uncontrollably travels back and forth through time. Sometimes he is an adult visiting his future wife when she is a child, sometimes he is in the future, powerless to change what will be.

Summary: Henry has a problem. He suddenly, without warning or preparation, finds himself, naked, in another time and place. He often finds himself in a field behind his future wife’s home when she is a child. Sometimes he vanishes from his job as a librarian, leaving an empty pile of clothes in the stacks. Somehow, he manages to function in the places he arrives at and covers his actions up from where he left. Throughout it all he manages to have a somewhat normal life that involves falling in love and getting married and having a job. This book is as much about the people and relationships as it is about time travel and the complications of that.

Evaluation: One of the more unusual, interesting and powerful books that I’ve read in a while. One feels their confusion, resignation and love strongly throughout the book. Readers are very invested in the outcome. Teens will enjoy the fantasy, time travel part and will get some insight into a mature relationship.