The explanations we do get for Autistic traits were quite shallow and I did have to remind myself constantly throughout this that our narrative perspective is from an 11 year old girl and this was co-authored by someone of a similar age. While the ending also had a positive message about it being okay to be different - I don’t feel like there was enough resolution of some of the things that happen in the story to justify this message. I picked this up thinking it would be an insightful read as my 11 year old, with autism, starts high school next month.

No tengo la suerte de que mi sobrino con TEA sepa contarme como es vivir con autismo y como se siente, ya que es incapaz de comunicarse (o más bien nosotros somos los incapaces de entenderle) pero siento que este libro me ha acercado de alguna forma más a él y me ha hecho entender muchas de sus actitudes. However, I deeply identify with Tally's high sensitivity to stimulation and agitation over it, her obsessive-compulsive tendencies, some of her tics, and her constant stress over trying to find some way to appear at least semi-normal, or at least normal enough to fly under the radar. Some of the more embarrassing extracts from her childhood and teenage diaries are used as the diary entries in her debut novel, Dandelion Clocks. For me, the narrator's voice is way too self aware, reflective, experienced, emotionally articulate, for an 11 year old, never mind an 11 year old with autism.At home, Tally daily has melt-downs in which she screams at her parents and her sister, tells them she hates them, and that her behavior is all their fault, and that she can't help it. I was terrified that I would never be able to go back to being the happy, comparatively normal child that I had once been, and feared that I was going to stay trapped in an internal volcanic explosion until I died. Help your child develop kindness and empathy with these middle grade books that inspire compassion: whether that’s towards animals, friends, or people in very different situations to your own. She expects her 11 year old friends to have expert knowledge and the skills and ability of a psychologist. People think that because Tally's autistic , she doesn't realise what they're thinking, but Tally sees and hears - and notices - all of it .

She was trying so hard to explain her thoughts and her behaviors and the way that her autism affected her, and yet I continued to have thoughts of "oh my word, I don't know what I would do if I was the parent in this situation. I bought this for my 12 year old autistic daughter so that she could feel like som comradeship, and like she’s not the only one going through some of the things she goes through, but she’s in love with graphic novels right now and there are “too many words and not enough pictures” for her right now. I didn't care for the narrative writing style, because it was often detached and dry, and when parts of the book went on and on without advancing the plot or characters significantly, I sometimes skimmed ahead to the next engaging action.As a reader, you really understand autism in an different way and this leads you to be introspective. Rebecca currently teaches in a primary school and lives in Dorset with her husband and three children.

She touches on the loneliness of not knowing who you really are when you mask, and that is so relatable. For me it came out as what everyone thought was unexplained depression which I now know to be burnout. It’s really important to point out to neurotypical readers that Tally is not a universal representation of how Autism presents itself. This was also my first time reading a novel that reflected some of my behavioral issues from the past. I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly!But this is her first year at Kingswood Academy, and her best friend, Layla, is the only one who knows. I love slice-of-life stories, but parts of this were too ordinary and detailed for my tastes, because they didn't tie into the plot or emotional current of the story, or else fulfilled the exact same purpose as a dozen other scenes.