Module 7a – Anything but Typical by Nora Baskin

1. Citation -
   Baskin, Nora. Anything But Typical. Mar. 2009. 208p. Simon & Schuster, (9781416963783).
   
2. Summary –Jason is a young teen with Autism Spectrum Disorder who must deal with everyday life. He cares about his family, but doesn't know how to show it in a way they understand. He is bullied by his peers, but has a few people he considers "friends". He finds an outlet in the form of writing stories on the internet. When he connects with another writer and begins correspondence with her, he feels his first true connection. His anxiety heightens when he learns that he will have the opportunity to meet this young girl in person. Will she see who he is on the inside, or just his "condition"?
   
3. Impressions of the Book – This book struck home on a personal level, as my husband has an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Though I have read some negative reviews of this book by people with ASD, I still believe it gives a tactful and caring view of how overwhelming things can be for someone on the spectrum. It also portrays the depth of thought that goes into everyday tasks and how much thought goes into trying to give people what they "need/want" even when the ASD individual does not understand or have a need for it themselves. Since the book is written in the first person, it gives the "Neuro-typical" reader a sense of thought process, and the anxiety that comes when things are "not as they should be". On a separate note, I read the first few chapters of this book to my husband, and enough things rang true with him that he felt it necessary to buy the audio book for himself and his mother (who is still trying to understand it all). I would recommend this book to students who are in a class with someone or have a friend or family member on the spectrum. It will build compassion and understanding of what these wonderful people have to offer, should they be allowed to be "themselves".
   
4. Reviews –
   Chipman, I. (2009). Anything But Typical. Booklist, 105(11), 40. Retrieved from MAS Ultra - School Edition database.
   

   Baskin tells this luminous story entirely from the point of view of Jason, an autistic boy who is a creative-writing whiz and deft explainer of literary devices, but markedly at a loss in social interaction with "neurotypicals" both at school and at home. He is most comfortable in an online writing forum called Storyboard, where his stories kindle an e-mail-based friendship with a girl. His excitement over having a real friend (and maybe even girlfriend) turns to terror when he learns that his parents want to take him on a trip to the Storyboard conference, where he'll no doubt have to meet her in person. With stunning economy, Baskin describes Jason's attempts to interpret body language and social expectations, revealing the extreme disconnect created by his internalization of the world around him. Despite his handicap, Jason moves through his failures and triumphs with the same depth of courage and confusion of any boy his age. His story, while neither particularly heartbreaking nor heartwarming, shows that the distinction between "normal" and "not normal" is whisper-thin but easily amplified to create the chasm between "different" and "defective." This is an enormously difficult subject, but Baskin, without dramatics or sentimentality, makes it universal. As Jason explains, there's really only one kind of plot: "Stuff happens. That's it." —Ian Chipman
   

   
    

5. Use in a library setting – This book could be used in part of a unit or display on diversity or perhaps during Autism Awareness Month.