Mockingbird

Title: Mockingbird
Author: Kathyrn Erskine
ISBN: 9780399252648
Genre: realistic fiction
Awards: National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2010), YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (2011)
Reading Level: 3rd grade
Interest Level: 4th-7th grade
Plot Summary: Caitlin is a 5th grader with Asperger's Syndrome and struggles to understand emotion and make friends. Her struggle becomes more difficult when her older brother and mentor is killed in a school shooting. Caitlin's mother is also gone, having died of cancer when Caitlin was very young. Now, Caitlin and her father must learn to move on but Caitlin finds her self lost when it comes to closure and empathy. Told from Caitlin's often humorous and always honest viewpoint the story shows how she struggles to understand the changes in the world around her. With the help of her counselor, Caitlin is taking steps to understand and befriend those around her while also learning how to gain closure.
Review: This book is not what I expected. A book that features a child with Asperger's Syndrome whose brother was killed in a school shooting and mother died of cancer does not seem like it would be humorous but rather very depressing. The book while sad and very emotional is far more uplifting and funny than I expected. The story is told from Caitlyn's point of view and her narration brings the reader into Caitlin's world and face to face with her daily struggles. The story focuses on how Caitlyn deals with life after her brother is gone. Devon, her brother, was someone that Caitlin could rely on for help and guidance but with him gone she is lost. Her school counselor provides Caitlin with the guidance that she needs and the push to understand empathy and reach out to her classmates. Her struggles are sometimes humorous but they are honest. Many of her actions that would be considered "strange" behaviors seem to make sense from her eyes. It's a great story about closure, empathy and personal growth that is very touching.
Reader's Annotation: Emotions and friendships are things that Caitlin struggles with but that's why her brother Devon was so helpful. But now Devon is gone and Caitlin isn's sure how she can move forward without his guidance. If Caitlin can't understand emotions how can she learn empathy?
Themes: loss, school shootings. empathy, closure, Asperger's Syndrome
Read alikes: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, Countdown by Deborah Wiles
Why for Tweens? Sadly this topic of school shootings is not something that tweens will be unfamiliar with. Nor is the topic of Asperger's syndrom. This book not only deals with death and loss, something that many tweens will be exposed to as they grow up but also the difficulties that those with Asperger's Syndrome face. A tween probably knows someone with Asperger's and this story might help them understand the challenges that they face and help them understand how they see things.