904-530-6010
The County Insider
  • Home
  • About
  • Merits & Achievements
  • Contact Us
  • Library System
    • Storytime
    • Book Reviews

Nassau County Library

Are you trying to decide what book to read next? Want to know more about what your friends are reading? Well, you've come to the right place.  Here you can find book reviews from Nassau County library staff members, and you can share your feelings about particular books in the comments.  Let us help you find your next favorite book today!

The Reason I Jump, by Naoki Higashida

4/17/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
This memoir by a thirteen-year-old boy with autism is based upon his communication using an alphabet grid created and translated to construct words he is unable to speak out loud.  The book is a series of questions posed to its author, Naoki, about his thinking, behavior, and inner life.  Novelist David Mitchell and his wife, KA Yoshida, translate the book, and Mitchell writes the introduction. The memoir is intended as an opportunity for readers to understand what occurs in the autistic mind and to answer questions about how this special class of persons feels, perceives, and responds to the world.

One of our local book clubs recently selected this title for discussion. Their conclusions were mixed, and I agree with the club’s overall sentiment that the depth of the memoir and its accurate reflection into the thoughts and feelings of its thirteen year old author, Naoki, may be compromised by its series of translations. Naoki chooses characters in an alphabet that is first decoded and translated by his mother, and the work is further translated into English. Nevertheless, this process is a commendable effort resulting in a book that promotes compassion and understanding of persons with autism. I would recommend it to anyone who is curious about autistic behavior. Parents and caregivers may find this book particularly interesting.

--Rosemary Szczygiel, Hilliard Branch Library

Find The Reason I Jump in the Nassau County Public Library System catalog.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Genres

    All
    Adult
    Children's
    Dystopia
    Essays
    Exercise
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Finance
    Florida
    Graphic Format
    Health
    Historical
    Literary
    Mystery
    Nonfiction
    Politics
    Religion
    Romance
    Science
    Science Fiction
    Yoga
    Young Adult

    Archives

    September 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly