Sign-In
Cart
Nothing is Right
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781480222854
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: Nov 19 2012
Pages: 218
Weight: 0.57
Height: 0.46 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Other people terrify Clay Dillon. He's never had a friend before, even though his mother runs a daycare out of their house. Now, it's time for him to face the first grade. Will he finally figure out what it is about other people that he does not understand, or will he hide himself in is schoolwork? Will he stand out as one of the few first graders that can already read adult novels, or will he camouflage his abilities so that he can avoid the extra attention? Clay wants desperately for other people to realize that he is valuable, but every time they talk to him, it hurts.
Nothing is Right is a novel about not being able to be called autistic. Set in 1988, five years before Aspergers Syndrome was formally recognized, it follows Clay through his first year at school. Through his eyes, we can navigate a special education screening system that knows he is an anomaly but that lacks language to describe him. We can also follow his attempts to find a space for himself, and his frustration when he fails to find ways to communicate. Most importantly, though, we can see the world through his eyes. This book does not shy away from blow-by-blow descriptions of sensory overload, self-injury (and the shame of hiding it), and the sheer panic of finding yourself suddenly and completely incapable of speaking.
From the author's afterword:
It's not easy, learning that you had a major developmental disorder that somehow slipped under the radar for years and years. The fact is, though, that they did not have the vocabulary or the support resources that are available today. When I was growing up, it was still assumed that autism was partially defined by cognitive deficits...
...it impossible for Clay to understand the differences between himself and others. Despite his high IQ and scholastic performance, and despite the fact that he knows something is different, he will always need someone else to explain to him what is different...
...It [the story] is the intersection of a family history of disorder, a socioeconomic niche that is always plagued by problems accessing support programs, and a moment in time when science and technology were almost, but not quite, capable of rising to the challenge of kids like Clay.
Length: 65,000 words
Also from
Monje, Michael Scott, Jr.
Also in
General Fiction
Elizabeth Spencer: Novels & Stories (Loa #344): The Voice at the Back Door / The Light in the Piazza / Knights and Dragons / Stories
Spencer, Elizabeth
Hardcover
Anniversaries, Volume 2: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl, April 1968-August 1968
Johnson, Uwe
Paperback
Philip Roth: Novels 1973-1977 (Loa #165): The Great American Novel / My Life as a Man / The Professor of Desire
Roth, Philip
Hardcover
John Updike: Novels 1978-1984 (Loa #339): The Coup / Rabbit Is Rich / The Witches of Eastwick
Updike, John
Hardcover
Selected Writings: Robert Musil: Young Torless, Three Women, the Perfecting of a Love, and Other Writings
Musil, Robert
Agee, Joel
Paperback