Mockingbird

By Kathryn Erskine
(Philomel, Hardcover, 9780399252648, 256pp.)

Publication Date: April 15, 2010

Other Editions of This Title: Paperback, Paperback

Categories: Family - Parents, Social Issues - Death & Dying, Social Issues - Special Needs

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the Summer 2010 Kids' Next List

“Mockingbird tells of Caitlin, an 11-year-old girl living with Asperger's syndrome. Erskine offers a remarkable window into the world of an autistic child. Readers will gain both understanding and empathy. We think of heroes as those who save the lives of others. Often, real heroes simply live out their own lives. This is a memorable and moving book.”

-- Christopher Rose, Andover Bookstore, Andover, MA

Description

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 not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.

Kathryn Erskine has written a must-read gem, one of the most moving novels of the year.

A Discussion Guide to Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

Read Kathryn Erskine's post on the Penguin Blog.

About the Author

Kathryn Erskine spent many years as a lawyer before realizing that she’d rather write things that people might actually enjoy reading. She grew up mostly overseas and attended eight different schools, her favorite being the Hogwarts-type castle in Scotland. The faculty, of course, did not consist of wizards, although . . . how did the headmistress know that it was “the wee redhead” who led the campaign to free the mice from the biology lab? Erskine draws on her childhood—and her second childhood through her children—for her stories. She still loves to travel but nowadays most trips tend to be local, such as basketball and tennis courts, occasional emergency room visits, and the natural food store for very healthy organic chocolate with “life saving” flavonoids.

This book is on these lists:

Mvosmik's Wish List by mvosmik
826 Boston's Wish List by 826 Boston
kateerin by kateerin
Winter 2010 by WillardLibrary
Amyjosprague's Wish List by amyjosprague
Betty's Wish List by betty
Kids' Next Summer 2010 - TOP 10 - NOW AVAILABLE at Storybook Cove by Jo-StorybookCove
Kids' Next Summer 2010 - TOP 10 - NOW AVAILABLE at Storybook Cove by Jo-StorybookCove
Kids' Next Summer 2010 by Jo-StorybookCove
2010 4/5 Summer Reading List by Joshua Sloat

All lists >>

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