This book is great. That’s a good way to start a review, right?
No, seriously. Written by an Autistic Girl for Autistic Girls, the author writes eloquently and with intelligence, but with enough oversight to make it very easily readable, as well as easily able to be digested (unlike that last sentence...ugh.). It doesn’t read as too childish, which can happen when an adult writes for children. There is some repetitiveness at the beginning of the chapters, but this is something that is common in Non-Fiction, so is not an issue. I love love love the different cartoons (which, reading via the Kindle app on my phone, were small and hard to see), they were cute without being babyish, and I was so happy to see a variety of races, abilities, appearances etc. Being an eARC I can’t comment on how it will look in the final publication, but it was laid out and simple to follow in my copy. The author was wonderful about showing suggestions. When she spoke of the varying sensory issues she herself faced, such as clothing tags or uncomfortable clothing that she was required to wear, she also gave many suggestions on how she does and how the reader could potentially mitigate these. There was a definite understanding on the part of the reader that although she had given you a half page of suggestions, there were more out there and you should try until you find a way that works for you. She also made it seem like a normal, run of the mill issue, so that was nice. Some subjects I felt could have been expanded on somewhat, such as sex and sexuality, but I do understand that this is seen as a private topic for many and can understand why it was left open. I did like that every single topic was left open and given suggestions on how to find out more information. The links at the back of the book were numerous, and also the referencing of books that the author used was well done, allowing parents or girls to read more if they chose to. I was glad to see m-to-f trans kids included as “Girls”, after all, if that’s how they identify, then that;s what they are. I do wish there had been a little about f-to-m, but as it is a guide for girls I kind of understand it. Speaking of trans and lgbt+, I loved that the author acknowledged that “coming out to yourself” is an important and often difficult step, and how some people would never go further than that, and that that was their decision and totally ok. Also all relationships someone may get into were treated as the same, regardless of the gender/sexual orientation! Bullying was a recurrent theme, and I liked that the author gave ways to stand up to bullies, as well as genuine examples from her own life, but also that she acknowledged that teachers can be complicit in the bullying, or even be the bully themselves. I think the biggest thing I took away from this was that despite the fact that many Autistic people struggle with communication, it is important to have people you can communicate well with, and to lean on them and keep them in the loop if things are not going well. The author gives so much information in this book I could talk all day. Honestly, if you are Autistic, if you have social skills that leave you struggling with communication with your peers, if you have an Autistic child/niece/nephew/grandchild/godchild - read this book. Content Warning: Discussions of bullying, self harm, menstruation Overall Rating: 4.5 stars.
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Just Mercy is a memoir-style non-fiction book about the work of an American lawyer and social justice advocate. It follows, for the main part, the story of Walter McMillian – an African American man who was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit – and his lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, the man who worked to get his sentence overturned.
While this book is primarily about Walter McMillian, in the sense that his story was the beginning of Bryan’s fight for those who have been wrongly accused or sentenced in such a way that is a miscarriage of justice, the book weaves in numerous stories of those trapped within the broken American ‘Justice’ system. The story narrative was masterful. As each chapter began, Bryan Stevenson told us of another person, another story, another miscarriage of justice. To begin with, I was confused, not in a bad way, but unsure as to how the author would bring these scattered threads back together. It was a storytelling method I personally hadn’t seen before, and it really worked. I felt that the author gave enough information on each new subject - how each person’s case was mishandled, how the system failed – that we became invested in their story, and wanted to know what happened. As the book progressed we had more and more people who we wanted to see a resolution for. While the resolutions were not always perfect, and no-one gets to go back to how things were before, it was uplifting to know that there are people out there who are working to achieve justice and to create real change in the system. We learn about the overrepresentation of African Americans within the prison system; how the system fails our most vulnerable – the mentally unwell, the disabled, the physically and mentally challenged – by incarcerating them in facilities which are not custom built, and not in any way appropriate or helpful. I appreciated that Bryan Stevenson was honest, and made a point of noting that he himself was overwhelmed by the whole system, by the problems and racism and lack of care. He writes “All of a sudden, I felt stronger. I began thinking about what would happen if we all just acknowledged our brokenness, if we owned up to our weaknesses, our shortcomings, our biases, or fears. Maybe, if we did, we wouldn’t want to kill the broken among us who have killed others. Maybe we would look harder for solutions to caring for the disabled, the abused, the neglected, and the traumatised.” This book really made me more aware of the failings of the American Justice and Prison systems, and interested in finding out more about the systems in my own country. The copy I read was the version Just Mercy, Adapted for Young Adults, and I would like to compare it to the original version, as well as to the recently released movie, Just Mercy. Overall rating: 4.5/5 |
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