A 9-year-old boy with autism who plays guitar like a 'ring in a bell' transforms the lives of a modern day witch, a junkyard pirate, a would-be reggae singer and others in Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap. Eddie is a precocious child with genius traits in some areas, particularly music, but he's socially inept and struggles with behavioral and learning issues. Eddie blames himself for his parents' failed marriage and his Ice Queen mother's unhappiness. He's determined to make her proud and prove he has value so he won't end up being abandoned on the scrap heap of life. Eddie is aided in his quest by his Uncle Natie Newman, a 40-year-old would-be reggae singer, Captain Jake, an artist/junkyard pirate, and Sharon, a modern day witch with a tragic past that Eddie exorcises.
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About the Author
Marc Littman Author of Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap Marc Littman has worked as a reporter, editor and free-lance journalist and in public relations for more than 20 years. Marc makes his living as a corporate writer but creative writing is his passion. He has earned numerous awards for short stories and screenplays. The author writes from experience tempered with ample research. His writing is life- affirming and often funny, but his message is serious. Through Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap he wants to help change the way people look at children and adults who are challenged. Sure, they have weaknesses they must struggle with daily to overcome, but they often compensate with remarkable strengths. Having raised a child with special needs, the author has unique insight. Marc has encountered some very interesting characters as a journalist that he weaves into his novel, but he couldn’t write Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap until he was inspired by his son to tell his story.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keeping it Real!,
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This review is from: Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap (Paperback)
This is one of the best children's novels about a character with autism that I have ever read. Mr. Littman has drawn a plausible cast of very eclectic characters and this work is nothing short of brilliant. I just LOVE it!
Nine-year-old Eddie has Asperger's Syndrome (AS) which is the spectrum partner to autism. Since autism/Asperger's (a/A) is a continuum, there are many overlapping behaviors and Eddie's behavior often appeared closer to the autism end of the spectrum. When readers are introduced to Eddie via his Uncle Natie, he greets his uncle wearing his ubiquitous fire helmet, underwear and a smile. He insists on drinking from a baby's bottle at night and his divorced mother (aptly nicknamed the Ice Queen) speaks disparagingly of Eddie and often in the boy's presence. Why the Ice Queen would give a 9-year-old a bottle and then complain about it never made sense to me. Natie, the Ice Queen's brother has returned home to Los Angeles after an unsuccessful stint in New York. A frustrated reggae guitarist, Natie's goal is to secure a reggae band. A Jamaicaphile, he learns Caribbean patois; wears dreadlocks and teaches Eddie how to play guitar. Eddie, a musical prodigy takes to it like his idol Chuck Berry took to duck walking. Natie becomes more than a mentor for Eddie. He's the boy's friend. He attends class with Eddie as a support person; cheers Eddie's brilliant questions in class despite his teacher's dismay; helps Eddie bring his reading level up to speed; regales the class with music and jokes at the teacher's expense. Since Eddie's teacher is ill suited for the job, Natie takes full advantage of it in very humorous ways. Natie insists that the Ice Queen level with Eddie about his father - the man is not dead; he is simply no longer a part of their lives by his own choice. Eddie has some very interesting allies - his Uncle Natie; the school custodian, a man with a lot of heart, Natie's friend Jake who built a pirate ship on his junkyard and Sharon, one of Jake's customers who has her car serviced there. Sharon is a wonderful and very interesting character. A wiccan, she teaches Eddie and Natie about her holistic remedies and beliefs. The bond between this self proclaimed New Age healer and the boy is heartwarming. Jake, a self-proclaimed pirate is a delightful, funny and VERY interesting character. I like the way he and Natie take Eddie into the world of male bonding and shared masculine humor. Jake and Natie were really good for Eddie. Natie is a delightful and very funny character. He steps up to the plate for Eddie at all times; he copes with his strident family and finds the humor in traditional Jewish ceremonies. Eddie's inadvertant upstaging of his pompous cousin's Bar Mitzvah was just too funny. Natie's crass older brother Abe was just the right thorn in the side to work as comic foil for Natie, who always managed to have fun at his expense. Natie brought fun into Eddie's life; Eddie made a very poignant observation about how Jake's junkyard was a metaphor for his own life. He describes himself as being like the junked cars - at one time they were new and welcomed by their owners only to end up as scrap metal. He describes how he is unable to follow rules; a day at the playground underscores the challenges people with Asperger's contend with. Even that dark cloud had a silver lining - an unexpected messenger recognizes Eddie's AS and comes through like the cavalry for him. This is a truly extraordinary book with a cast of unforgettable characters and a lot of delicious irony and wicked humor. I just love it! Read this with JACKSON WHOLE WYOMING, which is a good companion book to this one.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Barb Radmore,
This review is from: Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap (Paperback)
Reviewing is an interesting profession. You get to read an amazing selection of books- never one particular style, genre or subject. There is never an expectation going into the first page, the first chapter or the book itself. itself. A clever cover, a slick media package or lack of media blitz, subject matter or author web site can create no preconceived notions, no assumptions. So when a truly unique book appears with creative characters, an engrossing plot and a message appears it is moment of joy. Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap was my time of joy.
"Rub-a-dubdub, three adults in a tub and who do you think they be? A pirate, witch and reggae singer, the only three friends for me." Eddie is a 9 year old boy with Autism. His mother loves him dearly but life with Eddie is not easy. Mothering Eddie alone while working full time leaves her tense and frazzled. At a weak moment she allows her brother to move in with them to give him a place to stay and to help take care of Eddie. But Uncle Eddie, a guitar playing, dread locked Jamaican wanna-be reggae singer, does not make her life any calmer. Eddie and Uncle Nathan find refuge in their friend's junkyard, a magical place of scrap pirate boats, wiener mobiles and treasures galore. Here Eddie is able to be the guitar playing, mechanical wizard, loving boy he is. A friendly and attractive woman, Sharon, wanders into the junkyard to add a welcomed female influence, even if she is a witch. But life outside the junkyard is still impossible. The adults in Eddie's world are not the caring, sympathetic people he needs. His teacher is the man who should never be allowed in a classroom, his mother's family does not understand, nor care to try to, his Autisms and peers as friends are nonexistent. But the world at Jolly Roger's U-Pick gives him the world every person deserves, especially a child- a world of friends who accept each other for who they are. This is not the in depth, well rounded plot summary as is usual required part of all reviews. This is a book of characters; it is the people and their affects on those around them that is the foundation of this novel. With his fire hat on his head, Whoville in front of him, and a million questions on his lips Eddie is a boy you will love and cheer as he teaches those around him the ultimate lessons in patience, perseverance and passion. Marc Littman is the father of a son with Autism. He uses this debut novel to both entertain, it is a wonderful read, but also to educate. The chapter "No Cure-All" is a vivid portrayal of the judgmental, even if meant as helpful, suggestions every parent of a child with special needs encounters. The IEP meeting scene is too realistic to be anything but eye opening. He has written a wonderful story that makes the readers laugh out loud while tears run down their face. Maybe the next time the child behind you in line or at the next table in a restaurant makes you take a deep breath, you'll think of Eddie and smile.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant debut,
This review is from: Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap (Paperback)
Reviewing is an interesting profession. You get to read an amazing selection of books- never one particular style, genre or subject. There is never an expectation going into the first page, the first chapter or the book itself. itself. A clever cover, a slick media package or lack of media blitz, subject matter or author web site can create no preconceived notions, no assumptions. So when a truly unique book appears with creative characters, an engrossing plot and a message appears it is moment of joy. Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap was my time of joy.
"Rub-a-dubdub, three adults in a tub and who do you think they be? A pirate, witch and reggae singer, the only three friends for me." Eddie is a 9 year old boy with Autism. His mother loves him dearly but life with Eddie is not easy. Mothering Eddie alone while working full time leaves her tense and frazzled. At a weak moment she allows her brother to move in with them to give him a place to stay and to help take care of Eddie. But Uncle Eddie, a guitar playing, dread locked Jamaican wanna-be reggae singer, does not make her life any calmer. Eddie and Uncle Nathan find refuge in their friend's junkyard, a magical place of scrap pirate boats, wiener mobiles and treasures galore. Here Eddie is able to be the guitar playing, mechanical wizard, loving boy he is. A friendly and attractive woman, Sharon, wanders into the junkyard to add a welcomed female influence, even if she is a witch. But life outside the junkyard is still impossible. The adults in Eddie's world are not the caring, sympathetic people he needs. His teacher is the man who should never be allowed in a classroom, his mother's family does not understand, nor care to try to, his Autisms and peers as friends are nonexistent. But the world at Jolly Roger's U-Pick gives him the world every person deserves, especially a child- a world of friends who accept each other for who they are. This is not the in depth, well rounded plot summary as is usual required part of all reviews. This is a book of characters; it is the people and their affects on those around them that is the foundation of this novel. With his fire hat on his head, Whoville in front of him, and a million questions on his lips Eddie is a boy you will love and cheer as he teaches those around him the ultimate lessons in patience, perseverance and passion. Marc Littman is the father of a son with Autism. He uses this debut novel to both entertain, it is a wonderful read, but also to educate. The chapter "No Cure-All" is a vivid portrayal of the judgmental, even if meant as helpful, suggestions every parent of a child with special needs encounters. The IEP meeting scene is too realistic to be anything but eye opening. He has written a wonderful story that makes the readers laugh out loud while tears run down their face. Maybe the next time the child behind you in line or at the next table in a restaurant makes you take a deep breath, you'll think of Eddie and smile.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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new reggae band, fire hat, blood powder, wanna work, dandelion wine, poop deck Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Natie, Captain Jake, Chuck Berry, Bob Marley, Ice Queen, Red Stripe, Wiener Mobile, Duck Walk, Jolly Roger, New York, Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse, Red Sea, Uncle Abe, Betty Jane, Harry Potter, Even Eddie, Overlook Point, Eddie Newman, Mount Vesuvius, The Rockers, Yarmulka Cop New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
new reggae band, fire hat, blood powder, wanna work, dandelion wine, poop deck Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Natie, Captain Jake, Chuck Berry, Bob Marley, Ice Queen, Red Stripe, Wiener Mobile, Duck Walk, Jolly Roger, New York, Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse, Red Sea, Uncle Abe, Betty Jane, Harry Potter, Even Eddie, Overlook Point, Eddie Newman, Mount Vesuvius, The Rockers, Yarmulka Cop New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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