Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine


"It looks like a one-winged bird crouching in the corner of our living room."

The summary
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Summary:
In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.

Publisher: Philomel Books; 232 pages

4 comments:

Mary said...

Check out this link for a fascinating interview with Kathryn Erskine.

Laura said...

I just finished it and blogged about it, http://lauramitolife.blogspot.com/2010/04/mockingbird.html

Jewel said...

This was a wonderful book and I gave it to a co-worker to read. My only quibble was the last chapter or so. It seemed to have been just dropped in but up to that point I thought the book was fabulous.

Unknown said...

Caitlin is a memorable protagonist and her emotions and thoughts as well as those of the other main characters in the book demonstrate the author's empathy and understanding of her characters. The one thing that doesn't seem correct is that Devon's Eagle Scout project was to build a chest. Eagle Scout projects are supposed to be community service oriented and done with the help of other scouts so I don't think this was realistic. I like the interaction with Michael and Josh and wish that her closure had more to do with them instead of the chest. I think this book could be considered for the Schneider Award, but because of the inaccurate scout project, I would not consider it for the Newbery.