As a parent of a child with Aspergers syndrome, I have a tentative relationship with books centering around kids on the autism spectrum. On the one hand, I love reading books with kids that mirror my wonderful son, especially when those kids are happy and successful. On the other hand, I hate didactic books so if I start feeling like I'm learning something I get antsy, even when the author isn't really trying to teach me things. So I seek out this kind of fiction but then I don't look forward to reading it.Luckily for me, Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery was pure fun to read. I saw it on my way through the D's (my Reading My Library quest for the win!), and I remembered it from many recommended lists all over the place. So this was my chance to finally read it. I didn't come close to solving the mystery, but I can blame that on my stop-and-go reading style -- my younger son stole the book from me for a month while my bookmark languished in the middle.
By the way, he kept my bookmark safe the entire time. I couldn't do that, and his older brother is notorious for losing all bookmark slips instants after he comes in contact with them.
But it's a fun family story about a boy and his older sister, and his mom and dad, and the cousin who briefly comes for a visit. Ted narrates, and he explains that he uses a different operating system for his brain, but this is just part of his personality and identity, not a special after school moment. The parts about living in London seem more exotic than the parts about his social skill oddities. And any book that entices P to pick it up and read more wins my heart almost immediately.
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