I usually try not to post about a book I haven’t finished with, but I knew I wanted to write about the book Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine.
Caitlin is a 5th grade student who has Aspergers. She is intelligent and extremely artistic, but she struggles with social situations. Sadly, Caitlin’s community has recently suffered a school shooting. A young teacher, a female student and Caitlin’s brother died in the tragedy. Through the course of the story Caitlin meets the child of the young teacher and has to deal with the cousin of one of the shooters.
Caitlin works very hard to understand the people around her, but people and their emotions are very confusing. Her counselor is trying to get her to make friends to help her deal with the world around her, especially now that Devon is gone.
Caitlin starts off the story as seeming as if she doesn’t understand anything, but gradually the story shifts and it becomes obvious how wise Caitlin is. Listening to Caitlin’s story makes me realize that the things that make her special and different make her far more adept at life than many “normal” people.
I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of stories about amazing children. I’m hoping that when I recommend these to my students they can gain new perspective that will benefit them in years to come.
I found a great quote from the book online:
