In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.
Kathryn Erskine has written a must-read gem, one of the most moving novels of the year.
Praise for MOCKINGBIRD
* "Erskine works in powerful imagery throughout." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "[A] fine addition to the recent group of books with autistic narrators." --Booklist, starred review
"A strong and complex character study." --Horn Book
"This heartbreaking story is delivered in the straightforward, often funny voice of a fifth-grade girl with Asperger's Syndrome." --Kirkus, starred review
"This is...a valuable book." --School Library Journal
"Fascinating characters." --Los Angeles Times
On sale: April 15, 2010
Age: 10 and up
Grade: Grade 5 & Up
Page count: 240 Pages
ISBN: 9780399252648
Reading level: Lexile: 630L | Fountas/Pinnell: W
Kathryn Erskine spent many years as a lawyer before realizing that she’d rather write things that people might actually enjoy reading. She grew up mostly overseas and attended eight different schools, her favorite being the Hogwarts-type castle in Scotland. The faculty, of course, did not consist of wizards, although . . . how did the headmistress know that it was “the wee redhead” who led the campaign to free the mice from the biology lab? Erskine draws on her childhood—and her second childhood through her children—for her stories. She still loves to travel but nowadays most trips tend to be local, such as basketball and tennis courts, occasional emergency room visits, and the natural food store for very healthy organic chocolate with “life saving” flavonoids.
Praise for MOCKINGBIRD"[A] fine addition to the recent group of books with autistic narrators." --
Booklist"A strong and complex character study." --
Horn Book"This heartbreaking story is delivered in the straightforward, often funny voice of a fifth-grade girl with Asperger's Syndrome." --
Kirkus, starred review"This is...a valuable book." --
School Library Journal"Erskine works in powerful imagery throughout." --
Publishers Weekly, starred review"Fascinating characters." --
Los Angeles Times
