From Publishers Weekly
Crowley, the mother of a teenager on the autism spectrum, shows an astute understanding of her characters' psychologies but tries to encompass too much in this first novel, narrated by a girl with Asperger's syndrome. Merilee Monroe, a 13-year-old who is obsessed with dragons and filled with astonishing words she cannot express out loud, finds a soul mate in Biswick, an eight-year-old damaged by fetal alcohol syndrome, the son of a visiting poet. Merilee's growing affection for Biswick is beautifully drawn, but subplots regarding other citizens of Jumbo, Texas, their eccentric behaviors and the emotional baggage they carry, grow burdensome. The novel's slow-moving plot and shifting focus present other potential obstacles. On the other hand, both the dialogue and Merilee's unique thought process come off as authentic, compensating for some of the novel's weaknesses. The town of Jumbo—home to famous ghost lights that appear in the middle of the night and the legendary conquistador tree, under which a treasure is reputedly buried—adds an aura of mystery that coincides with a theme about miracles. The biggest miracle of all is the one Crowley handles with the greatest skill: the change that occurs in Merilee as she ventures at last beyond her very ordered existence. Ages 10-up
. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Marilee is different. She craves order, repeats words, and disdains hugs. She doesn't like the unexpected in her life. One day young Biswick and his poet father come to town. Small and like an alien, the inqusitive, needy Biswick brings a disruptive urgency that changes Marilee. Crowley makes an impressive debut with a story that captures the human condition as seen through the eyes of the good (and not so good) folks of Jumbo, Texas. Her strength lies in the way she kneads scenes and characters, giving them a fullness that moves beyond mere reality. Crowley has created a finely honed secondary cast, but her stars, Marilee and Biswick, are problematic in that neither feels like an authentic representation of a child with a syndrome (Biswick has fetal alcohol syndrome; Marilee, Asperger's); both are bright, articulate, and clever. Marilee says she wants to be alone, but she easily takes to Biswick, and Biswick, though called a retard, merely seems eccentric. This is, however, still a beautifully crafted story that will give children much to talk about. Cooper, Ilene
