***Disclaimer: All forms of autistic experiences are not the exact same. There are varying levels of severity and this book showcases one person’s story. I know that this is an extremely common book to be recommended for stories centering mental health/disability and as a reminder, this is a great start but don’t stop there. Unfortunately, I read about the controversy surrounding this book after I finished reading. The author himself is not autistic, nor did he do research on the developmental disability itself to ensure that the story was accurate. Please look into books written by autistic authors or at the very least, an author who has done adequate research to ensure better representation.***

This book has been on my radar for so long and up until I did further research, I was glad I finally got to read it. Books with neurodivergent characters in general are few and far between so to read a book from an autistic boy’s perspective was not only incredibly interesting, but also a bit of an eye opener. I loved seeing the the world through Christopher’s eyes, and I loved reading into the subtext of what he saw that he didn’t understand at the time. 

Possibly my favorite thing about the book was something I wasn’t expecting: the conversation about keeping information hidden to “protect” you kids from reality. His father *showed* Christopher love, compassion, and patience, but he was still selfish, abusive, and was never honest with him. His mother struggled with Christopher, sure, but she did keep trying in her own way. Neither parent was perfect, and both were pretty toxic, but I’ll be thinking about that whole dynamic and it’s implications for a while.