Here's a sign that a book has captured your geekling's attention: When we reached our vacation destination after almost two hours in the car, my son begged to listen to just one more track of the audiobook version of "The London Eye Mystery."
Siobhan Dowd's ripping, often funny read is inspiring for another reason, as well: Its young protagonist, Ted, describes his Asberger's as having a brain that "uses a different operating system." His unique approach enables him to solve the titular mystery -- a visiting cousin enters a pod on the London Eye, but never disembarks -- but I loved how Dowd never sugar-coated the difficulties Ted experiences in living with Asberger's. Dowd deftly describes, from Ted's point of view, his challenges in reading body language and facial expressions, his consuming fascination with weather, and his growing discomfort with his family's emotional outbursts, which become ever more frequent as the search for his missing cousin goes on.
Ted is a hero for kids who feel (or are) different from the pack, and the late, great Dowd has become one of mine for crafting this story so thoughtfully.
