Realistic Fiction
324 pages
Charlie’s dad is in the hospital with a serious brain injury and he’s just trying to cope with it the best he can. This is not easy when he’s crammed in an old RV with his siblings, a 3-legged dog, and the strange woman who’s driving them across the country to see his dad in the VA hospital. There’s a mysterious connection between her and Charlie’s dad which Charlie does not quite trust. On top of that Charlie has some serious OCD tendencies like washing his hands 12 times and rating bathrooms on a cleanliness scale. But what he does have going for him is a promise he made to his dad to locate a list of rare birds. If he can find all the birds on his list, maybe (just maybe) everything will be OK.
I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a way to understand what it takes to get through difficult times. This is a heartwarming story that puts relationships, history, nature and personal growth all in perspective.
Kiara is stuck — she can’t interact appropriately with her peers, and the adults in her life don’t understand her Asperger’s syndrome much better than she does. So what is she to do?
Matthew lives inside his London home, hardly ever leaving his bedroom. Paralyzed by his OCD fear of germs, he almost never leaves, but he also doesn’t miss much from the view outside his window.
Finola’s dad is a gifted musician, and his love for her is reflected in every note. But along with his brilliant mind come bad days too. Fig thinks she can protect him from his mental breakdowns, but they are getting more severe and she may not be able to hide them from the outside world much longer. And it’s complicated. She does not want the new neighbor to see their struggles, but she needs his help when her dad walks to the ocean in a tropical storm. Finola is too young to care for her dad alone, but there are no adults in her life other than him that she can trust, and his condition is more unreliable than even she can understand.
I am always mesmerized by the way a graphic novel can capture so many events and so much emotion in a single frame. This books is a fascinating account of one famous man (George Takei is best known for his role as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek.) and the history that made him who he is today.