Listen to this one. It will change the way you see the world.
Bibliography: http://animoto.com/play/GaQ7Lk1O96HlOX32BJ8LfA
Rogers, Angela Jayne, narr.
Mockingbird: (mok’ing-burd). By Kathryn Erskine. Recorded Books, 2010. CD.
Annotation:
Caitlin suffers
when her big brother, Devon, dies. Her
father, students and teachers, the town suffers too. Two words - school shooting. Notably, the novel, Mockingbird: (mok’ing-burd) received the 2010 National Book Award,
Young People’s Literature, with nominations for the 2012-2013 Iowa Children’s
Choice Award and 2011 ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults.
Comments:
Caitlin receives
the world with a kind of filter. She tells
the truth, always and tells it until it hurts. Too much sound and movement
bother her. She loves words and the
dictionary and draws her pictures, always in black and white. Friendships do not exist for her, yet, except
the one she had with her brother, Devon.
Somehow, Devon got her. He could
see her way. With their special
bond, Caitlin listened to his advice on how not to be a “weirdo”. She understood that it helped when she dressed
more like the other kids do. She learned
that “… you can’t moan or scream or shake your hands over and over in
public.” “… Because that’s not normal…”
Devon helped her
fit in just a little better. With the
shooting, with Devon’s death, she and her father must learn to live again. That hole that comes to each of us, the hole
that we just have to live with when we lose a loved–one, is huge for Caitlin. Caitlin’s hole is literal. It is the hole through Devon’s chest and
heart made by a bullitt.
Have I given you
enough clues? Do you recognize behaviors
typical of a person with Asperger’s syndrome?
Caitlin uses all of her hard won strategies to find closure and she
helps herself as well as all those around her.
