Mockingbird

by Kathryn Erskine

Book Overview

In Caitlin's world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That's the stuff Caitlin's older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon's dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger's, she doesn't know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399252649
• ISBN13: 9780399252648
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: Philomel Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.7" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Repurchase!

This was the book that got 13 year old me into LOVING books. I’m now 20 and it’s still just as amazing of a read as it was to my younger self. Not my favorite book anymore (ive grown much more and so has my book collection haha), but this will always have a spot in my heart. Cant recommend it enough.

I get it

Some five star reviewed books I've purchased leaves me wondering...I just don't get why all the stars. This one earns every star and more. I was completely surprised by this book. If one wants to see what it's like on both sides of a sometimes very difficult coin (whether one is familiar with Asperger's or not), I highly recommend this book. The characters will tug at the heart strings and wrap themselves around ones fingers, so that putting the book down is hard at best. I wish I had some of the strategies that Caitlin used when I was growing up..."I look at the person" is just brilliant. I can't thank Kathryn Erskine enough for writing this book.

A good read

Caitlin has Asperger's Syndrome and she has lost the one person who understood and was helping her "not act so weird". Her brother, Devon, was always helping her by telling her what not to do. When he gets shot in a school shooting though, he is gone from her life forever. Now Caitlin has to find her own way to make friends and find closure, even if she needs a little help from her counselor. This was a very touching novel. I had mistaken this for The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney, which is a very different story. I was not disappointed by this one though. This novel really got inside the head of someone who looks at the world a little differently than most people. It talks about loss and how much it affects everyone in a community and how some people have a harder time getting on afterward. Kathryn did an excellent job capturing the children's grief and Caitlin's journey into finding closure. I loved the relationship with Caitlin and her father. In the book she compares them(after her brother has) to Atticus and Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird. Her father is definitely strong like Atticus because you can see how hard it is for him to cope with the loss of his wife and son while taking care of Caitlin. He is very patient. This book should be a must read for any middle school or high school student. It has so many good aspects that will help people not only understand Asperger's but also to understand how everyone feels grief a little differently. First Line: "It looks like a one-winged bird crouching in the corner of our living room." Favorite Line: "I push my head farther under the sofa cushion but it doesn't swallow me up like I want it to."

Not just for young adults

I loved this book. I read it straight through on the day I brought it home. The author has a lovely "ear" for dialogue, particularly the inner dialogue of a young girl who sees the world through the lens of Aspergers. The themes in the book, however, are rich and varied. This is no "trendy syndrome" book but is a complex and touching story of a family, of the complications of love and death and renewal. I'd give it to parents trying to understand their quirky child, to teachers and counselors. But I'd also give it to any child who wants a great read and a main character who feels real and who you would want as a friend. It brings home the truth that we are all alike in some unfathomable way. And hey, just so it's clear-the book is also funny, warm, and unflaggingly interesting. And the author has made a connection that I find fascinating and food for thought, but I won't reveal that. It will make me dig out and reread another beloved story. I look forward enthusiastically to more books from the author.

Search for CLO-sure

Caitlin, age almost 11, has Asperger Syndrome (AS), and emphasizes she is not autistic. She has early intervention pull-out sessions in her school with Mrs. Brook, her counselor. At times, Caitlin says things that makes Mrs. Brook's head do a turtle jerk. Caitlin discovers the word "CLO-sure" and decides to pursue this. If you know anyone with AS, this book is even more meaningful. I have worked with students with Asperger. I'm reminded of one student who would come into my office ANGRY because of someone else. When telling the student the other person's side of the issue, I often drew comic strips with word balloons. That helped show perspective and the child would go, "Ah---I understand. But that's still not fair." Mockingbird has recently been nominated for the first BFYA (ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults award) to be given in 2011. It well deserves this award!

"Good and strong and beautiful."

I am trying as hard as I possibly can to hold back the tears that are welling up in my eyes right now. I have just finished reading this spectacular, extraordinarily touching book, and it has affected me so much I can't believe it. I don't even know why I'm crying. It's rare that a book like this affects me. Usually when a book states up front that its protagonist is on the autism spectrum, I prepare myself for crying big, hysterical tears, and then... nothing. Books about quirky outsiders, yeah, those get to me. "Stargirl" made my eyes water, "Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree" made me sniffle (happy tears, though), "How to Say Goodbye in Robot" made me weep openly, and I'm not even gonna go into what happened the first time I read "A Corner of the Universe" (okay, that one had a character with some kind of autism in it but I'm letting it slide because it wasn't the protagonist). But stuff like "Marcelo in the Real World" and "Anything But Typical," both of which were highlights of last year for me, leaves me dry-eyed. I strongly disliked "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," so I wasn't surprised that I didn't cry then, but the other two? I felt like a heartless monster, completely unable to empathize with fictional people going through what I do. Then I read "Mockingbird." Whoa. Guess I was wrong. Okay, what I want to convey to you right now is that the portrayal of Asperger Syndrome here is dead-on. Pitch perfect. All the stereotyped stuff I hoped the book wouldn't lapse into, that I think so many people believe to be fact, was avoided. So much of what Caitlin does and experiences is stuff I did and went through when I was her age. The way she talks. The way she sucks on her sleeves and names gummy worms. Her love of reading. The misinterpretation of social cues. The grossly inappropriate way she handles some things. And, most sadly of all, her difficulty with dealing with people and the way those kids reacted to her. (I definitely wanted to throttle one of those girls, she reminded me so much of one of my past tormentors.) Of course, being a kid with AS is also frustrating to people around you, and the book refuses to shy away from that. At times you'll want to scream at Caitlin, "Don't do that! Stop it!" and that's a perfectly appropriate reaction. It's not hard to see why people are frustrated, yet you will still feel for her and want her to do well. I also loved how Caitlin became friends with a person younger than herself; many people with AS find it easier to talk to people that are a few years older or younger than themselves, I think. (I certainly have, in the past.) The other characters are great. I can't believe I didn't hate Josh immediately (he used the word "freak" liberally and I'm inclined to despise anyone who does that, fictional or not; it's nails on a chalkboard to me). On the contrary, I felt for him almost immediately, considering what he's been through. (Chapter 35 is when I started crying, if you wa