Review of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life
Lessons by Jodi Carmichael
5 stars
This chapter book for middle grade readers taught me a lot
about what it is like to be a young child with Asperger’s Syndrome. Connor is a
very smart little boy, he might even rate at genius level, and he possesses a
wealth of information (especially about dogs and geckos). What he doesn’t have
are acquired social skills, and he tends to see the world through a tunnel of
perspective: he wants so much to impart all his knowledge about animals and so
forth, but he doesn’t understand that not everyone wants to learn what he
knows, nor that sometimes (for example, the classroom, the school hall, the
principal’s domain, and the school library) there are rules, and we all must
follow them. That is a really difficult lesson for Connor to learn, because he
has to process all this sensory input through his syndrome, and then learn to
act “properly.” He is really good-hearted, but that doesn’t always translate to
good behavior, though he tries.
I hope that this book will find a wide readership, and be
shared by parents, grands, and caregivers (and teachers!) with their charges.
It’s also appropriate for middle grade readers to peruse for themselves, and
lavishly illustrated.
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