Wild Orchid
Grade 9 Up–Written in a clear voice with three-dimensional characters, this novel is destined to be compared to Mark Haddon'sThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time(Doubleday, 2003). Both are narrated by a young person who has Asperger's Syndrome and both deal with the unique ways in which people with this condition relate to the world. Taylor, 18, does not want to go with her mother to Prince Albert National Park for the summer. She is terrified at what an unstructured future holds and wants to find a boyfriend. This objective proves to be a bit difficult because Taylor cannot bring herself to look at people's faces and she discovers that she positively does not like kissing. As the teen negotiates her summer, finding a job, learning more about herself, and realizing that her mother also has flaws, she moves forward with her life, in spite of some minor setbacks. She discovers some things that she is good at and comes to understand that these qualities can be desirable, even coveted. In places, the story line simplifies Taylor's disabilities, possibly in a palpable attempt to add humor. Nonetheless, Brenna has done a credible job of capturing the voice of a young woman on the brink of maturity; in some ways Taylor is incredibly similar to most teenage girls and in other ways she is exceedingly different.–Wendy Smith-D'Arezzo, Loyola College, Baltimore, MDCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.