I just finished reading Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine coming April 15, 2010! • Penguin Books for Young Readers • Middle-grade fiction • Ages 10 and up
On a scale of 1 to 5, I definitely give this book a 5.
This book is a story told by a young girl, Caitlin, with Asperger’s syndrome. The reader gets to see the world from her point of view which is truly enlightening. She has to deal with the death of her older brother (who helped her navigate the social world) and the grief her and her father face while dealing with everyday life.
I think this is a great book for middle and high school students to read as well as teachers who don’t really understand Asperger’s syndrome. I also think it would be great for high school students who have Asperger’s syndrome to read this with their teacher and have discussions about the social skills throughout the book. Throughout the story, Caitlin’s brother shares coping strategies on social skills that would really be relevant in the classroom. I could even see a Service Learning class on the high school level reading this book and developing a project with special needs students in their own school. There are so many different activities that this book can be integrated in and explored. This book teaches tolerance and understanding of people who are special. I highly recommend it as reading for teachers!
Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).
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