When you’re young, everything terrible is far away, but the bad thing is looking at you anyway, even if you can’t see it. And it comes toward you slowly and steadily through the years until suddenly it’s in front of you and about tot take something away for good.
If you love someone with autism, you will definitely want to read this story. And even if don’t, Eli Gottlieb’s sweet novel about a child in an old man’s body, striving to sustain memories of a mother’s love, will make you smile, weep, and cheer. It’s about outcasts and community, parental love and abuse, sibling rivalry and reconciliation, and closure.
Gottlieb based his 2016 Carnegie Medal Nominee for Fiction in fact, having an older brother very much like the protagonist. Both men live in long-term assisted care facilities staffed by a broad spectrum of low-paid workers. So, when Todd’s favorite caregiver in the story becomes overshadowed by a manipulative new hire and an antagonistic roommate, he can’t cope and sets out on an adventure to recapture the magical place of his youth. 272 engrossing pages.
To learn more about the real Gottlieb brothers, watch this author interview featuring a home visit.