The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon *****

In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, 15-year-old Christopher Boone is in a special school. He is a literal thinker and doesn’t understand social cues. Also, he can be aggressive and has an aversion to being touched, and anything yellow, brown, or unknown. On the other hand, he has an eidetic memory and excels in science and math. He finds new people incomprehensible and frightening, but with the encouragement of his teacher Siobhan, he wants to solve a murder, write a novel, and become a scientist. An encouraging view of Autism.

Christopher narrates the book (this is the novel that he is writing). Through the narration the reader shares Christopher’s view of the world. His logic and literal mind allow him to be self-aware and “special.” For example, he avoids anything yellow or brown, and has logical reasons for this, but also realizes that this is not normal. He can adjust… “And I didn’t like the ticket being half yellow, but I had to keep it because it was my train ticket.”

Christopher’s first challenge is the murder of his neighbor, Mrs. Shear’s dog. He collects evidence logically and does his best to emulate Sherlock Holmes. Collecting evidence requires him to leave his comfort zone. He talks to strangers and goes to places he’s never been before.

Christopher never tells a lie. I said, “Yes. I always tell the truth.” This is part of his rigid behavior, but, when necessary, he can find logic to justify half-truths as white lies.

When he needs to travel to London, he is pushed way out of his comfort zone. Much of the book is about the conflict between his determination (solve the murder, write his novel, take the A-level exams, go to London) and his personality (fear of noise, small spaces, crowds, being touched, new toilets…). It is inspiring to see him overcoming his self-imposed difficulties.

An encouraging book of bravery and logic.

P.S. I identify with Christopher. 

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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez ****

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez is a coming-of-age story. Julia Reyes lives with her undocumented parents and the memory of her perfect but dead sister. She wants nothing to do with her family in the US or Mexico. Her goal is to leave Chicago, go to college, and become a writer. Of course, nothing is easy. Over time she uncovers dark secrets and learns acceptance. An inspiring journey of acceptance and assimilation. Highly recommended.

When Julia was fifteen, her sister Olga was hit by a semitruck while crossing the texting. She “stepped into a busy street at the wrong time. She got hit by a semi. Not just hit, though - smashed.”

Julia’s mother cleans houses, and her father works in a candy factory. They want their daughter to be a receptionist – work in an air-conditioned office sitting down. She rejects their goals. She wants to be a writer. “Didn’t she want more? Didn’t she ever want to go out and grab the world by the balls? Ever since I could pick up a pen, I’ve wanted to be a famous writer.”

Her parents want to give her a quinceañera, but she hates the idea. The same is true for learning to cook, get married, or have children.

Julia is brutally honest, but when she learns her parents’ and her sister’s secrets, she is forced to question her approach.

“A few years ago, I learned you can get away with nearly anything if you mention menstruation to your male teachers.”

The book has a sprinkling of Spanish. Most of it is not translated.

This poem was at the end of the book (only in Spanish, translated by Google Translate).

Cambia el más fino brillante de mano en mano su brillo.
Cambia el nido el pajarillo.
Cambia el sentir un amante.
Cambia el rumbo el caminante aunque esto le cause daño.
Y así como todo cambia que yo cambie no es extraño.

The finest diamond changes its shine from hand to hand.
The little bird changes its nest.
A lover changes his feelings.
The walker changes his course even if it causes him harm.
And just as everything changes, it is not strange that I change.

 

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The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer *****

 Death doula, death café, threshold choir. I never heard of any of these before reading The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer. Clover is a death doula. She sits with people who are close to dying–listening, handholding, honoring, and recording their last words (regrets, advice, confessions). Clover has never been in love or been kissed. She is hired for Claudia, 91 years old, a talented photographer who abandoned her career for marriage. Claudia’s regret is Hugo Beaufort, a lover from her last adventure before getting married. As Claudia’s doula, Clover searches for Hugo, an important adventure for Claudia and Clover. A beautiful novel of love and death.

With the death of her grandpa, Clover’s only friend is Leo, her 87-year-old neighbor, and, possibly, Miss Bessie who owns the bookstore that Clover has visited since she was six years old. She was 36 and her life revolved around waiting for people to die. She attempts friendships with Sylvie, who moves into her building, and Sebastian, who she met at a death café, and who hired her to be the death doula for his grandmother, Claudia.

She had never been in love or been kissed. Her first kiss with Sebastian is a disappointment.

Death Café: People, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death. Our objective is to increase awareness of death to help people make the most of their (finite) lives. A Death Cafe is a group-directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives, or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session.

Threshold Choir: Brings songs of comfort to the dying. It is a great honor to be of service to our clients and their families and caregivers during a tender stage of life. The opportunity to provide comfort and peace is a great motivation for Threshold Choir singers.

Quotes

“If you want something you don’t have, you have to do something you’ve never done.”

“I think it was more that she spent her whole life scrimping and saving... She ended up dying with all this money in the bank that she never spent.”

“Be cautiously reckless.”

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations. 

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers *****

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is Science Fiction with alien biology and cultures, scientific creativity, and imagination, but without the dystopia. Captain Ashby is the Captain of the Wayfarer (a spaceship that builds hyperspace tunnels). Ashby’s crew is about diversity, inter-species love, and cooperation. Readers are divided between those who want good to battle evil in a dystopian future and those who are happy with interstellar romance. I’m in the latter group and I enjoy the strange couples like the tech in love with the ship’s AI and the navigator in love with the virus that is threatening his life. A kinder science fiction.

Couples:

The Human captain Ashby has a secret love with Pei, the Aeluon captain of another ship.

Jenks, the Human computer tech, who is in love with Lovelace (aka Lovey), the Wayfarer’s AI.

Sianat Ohan is paired with a virus that enables him to comprehend the tunneling and is killing him.

Human Rosemary falls in love with reptilian Aandrisk Sissix, who is the pilot.

The author makes the case that everyone is the same.

“We are all made from chromosomes and DNA, which are made from a select handful of key elements. We all require a steady intake of water and oxygen to survive (though in varying quantities). We all need food. We all buckle under atmospheres too thick or gravitational fields too strong. We all die in freezing cold or burning heat. We all die, period.”

Also the defense of body modifications (gender-affirming care?).

“Now, modders, modders don’t care about anything as much as individual freedom. They say that nobody can define you but you. So when Bear gave himself a new arm, he didn’t do it because he didn’t like the body he was born in, but because he felt that a new arm fit him better. Tweaking your body, it’s all about trying to make your physical-self fit with who you are inside.”

Great depictions of engineers.

“So, you can fix it?” Oxlen said. “Oh, yeah,” Kizzy said. She looked Oxlen in the eye and placed her hand over her heart. “Believe me when I say that there’s nothing I’d rather do than fix this thing.”

“Thanks. I’ve got a fuck-ton of wrenches in here.” “We’ve got wrenches.” “Yeah, but these are my wrenches.”

Science fiction with plenty to say about equality and equity.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations.