Tag Archives: Autism Spectrum

Review: Limitless Roads Café by Samantha Picaro

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,
Limitless Roads Cafe by Samantha Picaro cover shows a girl in glasses, a white top and jeans holding a clipboard in one hand and her cell phone in the other. Behind her is a line drawing of the outside of a cafe with a potted plant, an awning, and a small table with chairs.

Limitless Roads Café
Samantha Picaro
Published May 15, 2023

Amazon | Goodreads

About Limitless Roads Café

Kinsey Fontana relies on lists to navigate the world as an autistic teen. #Goals list: win her dream event planning internship (she knows it’s an ironic dream); master the art of masking; and gain Mom’s approval. Instead, she works at a café hiring teens with disabilities. Although she loves the café and discounted macchiatos, she dreams of more than planning open mic nights.

She has an opportunity to shine by throwing a fundraiser to save the café. The catch: allow her ex-best friend Melissa Castillo to be her assistant and pretend they are friends again so Melissa’s parents respect her.

To-do list: plan the fundraiser with zero fundraising experience; work with the intimidating hotel planner who rejected her for the internship; and use every masking technique to charm rather than repel people from sponsors to a boy band. Although she needs unhealthy amounts of caffeine to handle autistic burnout, Kinsey reconsiders her #Goals list and realizes self-doubt belongs down the drain like incorrect orders.

My Review

Though I’ve read a few other books with autistic characters and authors, I think this is the first book I’ve read with so many disabled characters in it. In the beginning, Kinsey feels no special connection to her coworkers, preferring to keep her head down and get her work done rather than socializing. But when she learns the cafe is at risk of closing, she and the other cafe employees band together to try to save it with a huge community fundraiser. Along the way, she builds relationships not only with her coworkers but with other people she’d written off as bad for one reason or another.

I really liked the way the character relationships developed and changed, especially the relationships between Kinsey and her cafe friends. I also enjoyed the up-close, inside-the-mind feel of the story. The scenes deftly capture social cues Kinsey misses without making it awkward or too obvious. Kinsey’s voice is believable and consistent, even if her choices or responses may be unexpected to some readers. As a member of an Italian family myself, I also loved all the references to Italian language, traditions, and food.

Here and there, I did spot a missing or incorrect word. A couple of times, it seemed like there was maybe a line of dialogue missing from a conversation, so the next line seemed to refer to something that hadn’t happened. I was always able to figure it out and move on really quickly, though.

On the whole, I enjoyed the book and loved the cast of characters. I think this is a great summer read and a nice pick for readers interested in dialogue about ableism and disabled teens.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Kinsey is autistic. She works at a cafe where all the employees are disabled.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kinsey and her dad attend Italian Mass. Kinsey isn’t sure what she believes about God but finds the service calming.

Violent Content
In several scenes, people use ableist language or behavior. Often Kinsey or other people confront them and point out why what they said or did was problematic. Kinsey and another girl get into a shoving match in a store when Kinsey’s competitiveness spirals out of control.

Drug Content
Kinsey’s parents pressure her to take a drink of wine, which she immediately hates.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of LIMITLESS ROADS CAFE in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: The Boy Who Steals Houses by C. G. Drews

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

The Boy Who Steals Houses
C. G. Drews
Orchard Books
Published April 4, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About The Boy Who Steals Houses

Can two broken boys find their perfect home? By turns heartbreaking and heartwarming, this is a gorgeously told, powerful story.

Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he’s ever known. Now Sam’s trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he’s caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing – each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie.

But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him.

Heartfelt storytelling, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Jennifer Niven.

My Review

I’ve been in such a weird reading place lately (as so many of us have during the pandemic), so while I wanted to read this book at some point, it wasn’t in the short stack of books I felt like I needed to read this month.

And yet.

As soon as I started the first page, I had to know what came next. The chapters are pretty short (or at least, they seemed that way?) and I kept “one more chapter”-ing myself into reading long past a reasonable bed time and sneaking reading time into every spare minute during the day until I’d finished. So it’s super addicting and a really compelling story.

Sam is one of those boys you just want to shake (Gently… Come on. He’s been through a LOT.). He’s a mess, and he’s quickly becoming something he fears and hates, but he so desperately wants to be loved and to protect those he loves that I really couldn’t help loving him and wanting him to figure out a way through.

Though the whole story is in his point-of-view, a lot of it centers around a girl he’s quickly falling for. Moxie is amazing. I loved her from the very first moment she appeared on the page. She is fierce, creative, and vulnerable. She confronts Sam’s issues, but she sees beyond them, too.

Conclusion

Some of the abuse elements in THE BOY WHO STEALS HOUSES are pretty dark. I’m sensitive to that type of content, and it was very close to the line for me because it’s so cruel, and because more than one character behaves cruelly toward Sam and his brother. There are maybe four scenes that were really hard to read and then other quick mentions of or references to abuse that happened to the boys. I still loved the book, but it does live up to the promise of being heartbreaking in its descriptions of these things.

If you like tragic heroes and stories about found families, THE BOY WHO STEALS HOUSES must go on your To Be Read list! I think fans of MORE THAN WE CAN TELL by Brigid Kemmerer will really like this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Sam’s brother Avery has Autism Spectrum Disorder. Moxie’s brother is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Graphic scenes show an adult physically abusing a child. Some scenes show cruel bullying and a teen beating up other teens.

Drug Content
References to teens drinking alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

Review: Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

The Gilded Wolves
Roshani Chokshi
Wednesday Books
Published on January 15, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About The Gilded Wolves
Set in a darkly glamorous world, The Gilded Wolves is full of mystery, decadence, and dangerous but thrilling adventure.

Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can’t yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.

Together, they’ll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive.

My Review
If you’ve read other books written by Roshani Chokshi, you remember the lush magical settings and rich, Indian culture. The unforgettable characters main characters with quirky companions and delicious banter between them.

Gilded Wolves is a whole different kind of story. From the setting in late nineteenth century France to the complex alternate history and magic system, Gilded Wolves took some getting used to for me.

I really enjoyed the characters. There’s something incredible about creating a cast of six with relationships as close and complex and realistic as this group had. I loved the Ocean’s Eleven style heist the group sets up. It created a lot of tension and danger, which kept me turning page after page.

The magic system and politics between the houses of power were a little hard for me to keep track of at first. The prologue and opening chapter felt a bit heavy with history and setting details, but once the real story begins and we meet Séverin and his crew, I found it really easy to connect with them. If you loved the close character relationships and the high stakes of the heist in Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, you want to check out Gilded Wolves.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Séverin and Hypnos have one white parent and one black parent. (They aren’t related.) Laila is from India. Enrique is Spanish and Filipino. Zofia is Jewish and probably on the Autism spectrum, though Gilded Wolves doesn’t label her. The cast includes openly gay and bisexual characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sex. Descriptions of kissing between two boys and a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Gilded Wolves includes some references to the biblical story of the tower of Babel. It’s not a strict biblical interpretation of the story, though. In Gilded Wolves, when the tower falls, pieces of it remain which contain powerful, civilization-ending magic.

Additionally, four families rule houses of power. Some people have abilities to change the characteristics of objects with magic. Like creating a desk which traps the hands of anyone who touches it besides the owner. One character has the ability to sense the history of an item which hasn’t been magically altered.

One character states that his goal is to become a god and remake the world. He believes that if we are made in God’s image, that makes us gods also.

Another character has an unusual origin and was created using bits of bone and the spirit of a child who’d died.

Violent Content
Séverin describes experiences with his foster parents. One tormented him and his foster brother, even torturing them by using a magic helmet to replay their nightmares. One of his foster fathers died by suicide. One died during a robbery.

Drug Content
Séverin’s foster father drinks wine. Characters drink wine and champagne at parties. Hypnos drinks wine while the team tries to solve a puzzle. He jokes about needing it to help him think.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , ,

Rain Reign
Ann M. Martin
Feiwel & Friends
Published October 7, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Rose finds comfort in two things: homonyms and her dog Rain. When a fierce storm rips through her sleepy northern town, her dog disappears. Rose enacts a plan to find her missing companion, but along the way she learns about empathy for others in her community who’ve lost homes and family in the hurricane.

It’s difficult not to compare this novel with others with a similar narrator. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime particularly came to mind. Martin’s tale is a lot more kid friendly. The plot is simpler but its characters remain complex and layered.

Through the endearing behavior of her protagonist, Martin encourages readers to develop empathy and explore a way of thinking which may be foreign to many of us. We begin to experience Rose simply as a girl who loves a dog. We see past her diagnosis into her heart, and this is the greatest triumph an author can hope to impart to her readers. This is a great story for middle or upper elementary-aged students.

Profanity and Crude Language Content
Just a couple instances of mild profanity from Rose’s father.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
Rose’s father regularly comes home drunk. She finds it best to leave him alone when he’s in this condition, but still sometimes he says unkind things to her.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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